Kingdom Hearts: Slave of Love
by keybledar43
Summary: Sora is Kairi's new slave, now he must put up with bad treatment, enemies and most of all his raging hormones. Includes many other pairings.
1. Meet Sora

**Hey guys this is my new story and I hope you like it. I will have an update once a week and in some occasions I might post twice in one week, depending on how busy I am. Well without further ado, here's the disclaimer:**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts and don't think I ever will.**

**Kingdom Hearts: Slave of Love**

**Ch. 1 Meet Sora**

It was six in the morning in the prosperous town of Radiant Garden and many people left their homes in order to fulfill their everyday duties. The sun shone and lit the blue stone streets and dark stone buildings that adorned the town and it casted an unearthly glow on the great blue wall that separated the two parts of town. The first and smaller of the two parts was know as Radiant Garden, this part of town was in very good condition and every person seemed to be happy all the time. The inhabitants of Radiant Garden were always well dressed and most of them had a person wearing a gray collar with blue orbs following them around; to outsiders this might seem odd but for the people of Radiant Garden it was quite normal to have a slave. Since the people of Radiant Garden were more powerful than the inhabitants of the other side to town, they would take the ones who had committed a small crime as slaves but each person was limited one per law. A slave couldn't be owned until the age of sixteen was reached and the person attended school. Schools in Radiant Garden were very prestigious and were made from the finest rock of the world; most schools required their students to have a slave in order for them to focus on their schoolwork rather than their chores. The streets of the town were now filled with people walking past each other with smile on their faces, unaware of the hardships that were faced past the gate that was guarded by soldiers wearing fine uniforms consisting of a blue jacket, black pants, black shoes and a blue hat.

Outside of the gate was the poor part of town that by now was a lot more crowded that Radiant Garden, people rushed past each other as they hurried to their jobs for here in Hollow Bastion if you were late then you were fired. Hollow Bastion had many old dark rock buildings that seemed close to destruction, thrash filled streets and many homeless men and women that struggled greatly to survive. There were many criminals in this part of town and that made it impossible for the few good people to better themselves, and even though the people had many different ideas they all secretly wished to live in Radiant Garden. Although everyone wished to go to Radian Garden nobody wished to do so as a slave for it was the only thing worse that doing time in the old dark prison that loomed in the outskirts of town. In conclusion everybody in Hollow Bastion had different ideas but the same desire, well all except one.

Two teens walked through the highly crowded market that was filled with old green tents, angry vendors, and rotten fruit in wooden baskets. One teen had blond spiky hair and blue eyes; he wore blue baggy jeans, brown muddy shoes, a white buttoned shirt that had many stains, and an old brown leather jacket. The other teen had brown spiky hair, bright blue eyes, and tanned skin; he wore black baggy slacks with many pockets, a semi dirty white long sleeve buttoned shirt, gray skating shoes, a bright silver necklace, and black fingerless gloves.

"How much longer?" whined the brown haired teen as he continued to push past the people in the market.

"Quit whining it's just a little longer," said the blond haired teen with a roll of his eyes.

"Don't roll your eyes at me Roxas, I'm just tired of walking and pushing through this people," the other teen said with a pout.

"Just shut up Sora and keep walking, we'll get there," Roxas said while glaring at an old bold men that had pushed him.

"Whoa, take it easy Rox," Sora said, putting his hands up in defense, "why are you so angry today? Are you having trouble with Larxene A.K.A "Da Bitch"?"

Roxas sighed and looked at Sora with a frown, "I heard that Axel's back from prison."

"Don't worry Rox," Sora said with a smile as he snatched a red apple from a basket, "Larxene's over him right?"

"Yeah I suppose you're right," Roxas said with a serious expression, "I just wonder why Seifer didn't tell you what he wanted."

"Dunno," Sora said as he took a bite off the apple, "now that you mention it he's been real mysterious lately. And why did he tell us to meet him at the old warehouse that apparently can only be reached with your highly, excuse the sarcasm, intelligent mind."

"Ha ha, that was hilarious Sora," Roxas said with a roll of his eyes, "anyway, if we turn that corner we'll see the warehouse." Ignoring his best friend's muffle reply Roxas continued to lead towards the warehouse, unaware that an old lady was giving Sora's description to two officers.

Sora and Roxas stood in front of an old gray warehouse that was in the outskirts of town right next to the train tracks that nobody visited for some reason.  
"He's in there?" Sora asked as he spitted out his apple with a lot of saliva covering it and put his hands behind his head.

"Two things, one you're gross and two yes this is the place," Roxas said with an annoyed expression in his face. The duo walked into the warehouse and as soon as they took two steps they were pushed against one of the dirty walls of the warehouse and searched for any sort of weapon.

"Don't get too exited Rai," Sora said as he broke free from the grasp.

"Clean," said a silver haired teenage girl in a cold tone as she let go off Roxas.

"Good work Fuu," said a blond haired teen wearing a black beanie, black shoes, purple pants, a black shirt and a white coat. "I'm sorry for that guys but you must understand that I must be careful," the teen said with a grin.

"What do you need us for Seifer?" Sora said with his arms crossed.

"Yeah why the mysteries?" Roxas asked with a raised brow.

"Well you should know that there are a lot of police officers around town and I should be on my toes," Seifer said with a smirk.

"So, what do you want us for?" Sora asked as he looked at the large empty warehouse with gray walls and thrash on almost everything.

"Well today we're visiting Radiant Garden," Seifer said with a sly grin, "they have too much but don't give anything to us."

"Get even ya know," Rai said.

"But isn't it really dangerous to be caught by the Specials?" Roxas asked with a frown.

"Yeah, I heard you have to do at least five years in prison or are turned into a slave if you're caught," Sora said with a serious look.

"Don't worry we'll steal from the areas near the sewer, we found a sewage tunnel that connects this part of town with their part, the only thing keeping us from entering is a lock that won't be a challenge to you Sora," Seifer said with a grin. "We'll only take a few possessions and be on our way."

"It is a good plan," Sora murmured to himself. "What do you think Roxas?" he asked with a thoughtful look.

"This is the first time Seifer actually has a plan that makes sense," Roxas said with a smile, ignoring the complains from Seifer. "We'll do it," he said with a nod.

"Good!" Seifer exclaimed with a smile as he, Rai, and Fuu walked over to them and shook hands. "Be at the sewers at eight," Seifer said as he and his group left the warehouse.

"What do you really think?" Sora asked Roxas with a small smile.

"I don't like to steal but those damned Specials deserve it," Roxas said with a frown. "Let's get going," with that the two teens left the old broken down warehouse and made their way to Larxene's house, a second home to the two.

**Police Profiles**

"_Spiky"_

Brown spiky hair, blue eyes and tanned skin

Wears long sleeve shirt, black slacks and a crown necklace

Status: Wanted

For the theft of ten pounds of fruit

Ability:

Able to open any lock, competent swordsmen

"_Brain"_

Blonde spiky hair, blue eyes and semi-tanned skin

Wears blue jeans, brown leather jacket and white buttoned up shirt

Status: Suspect

Ability:

Able to think on his feet and get out of any situation

**End of Ch. 1**

**A/N: I hope you liked this story guys and please review so I get the strength to update quickly.**


	2. Meet Kairi

**Here's the next chapter to my story (that I hope you'll like). I might be able to update soon due to me having a lot of freetime next weekend.**

**Kingdom Hears: Slave of Love**

**Ch. 2 Meet Kairi**

It was eight in the morning in Radiant Garden, the sun shone in the many rock buildings in a way that gave them an unearthly glow it was as if the rock came from another world. This part of town was known for its good performance when it came to money earned, schools, streets etc. There were three high schools in this town and all of them tried to be the best in town even though one of the three didn't have good records. One of the schools was called Garden High School, the school building was large and it looked like the perfect school but this school had a bad reputation since it was located near the wall that divided the two towns and because some students would leave the town to observe the Seras, which meant people without magic. The two other schools were the only ones that were close in terms of grades and students but Radiant Future High School, for its enormous wealth, would always come on top. The final school was called Radiant Garden School of Special Arts, this school had good grades and a nice building; the school was located in the middle of town and consisted of one main five story building, with two long gardens on its left and right, two five story circular dormitories, and it was surrounded by a great stone wall that had one big wooden gate in the middle. This school was very popular and it was known as the strictest school when it came to owning a slave, if you didn't have a slave before two months from the start of the year you would have to be removed from the school and forced to go somewhere else.

On one of the girl's dormitory rooms, the sun shone through the window and hit the sleeping form of a teen in the bed. The room was made from stone, had a private bathroom, essential wooden furniture and had a large window that overlooked the school's garden. A groan was heard from the covers and an auburn haired teenage girl got off bed; the girl was slim, semi tall, had creamy white skin, and blue eyes with a hint of violet. The girl walked to the window and sighed, she knew that this school would get in her nerves about not having a slave but her parents hadn't found one that would suit her (in other words one that didn't look like a rapist) even though they had been looking.

"I hate this place," Kairi said as she took off her white nightgown and walked into the restroom.

Several minutes later Kairi was walking in the school's garden towards her first class, History of Magic. She was wearing her school uniform which consisted of a white short-sleeved buttoned up shirt, a blue navy jacked, a blue navy skirt that reached a little over her knees and a red tie. Kairi didn't mind history class, in fact she was quite gifted when it came to studying, but what she did hate had a name and that name was Tifa. Ever since Kairi got to school (a month ago) Tifa for some reason always picked on Kairi, since she wasn't the best with her powers.

"Hi, "Crappy Kairi!"" exclaimed a voice from behind Kairi. Kairi only groaned and kept on walking in a faster pace, "hold up, why are you so rude to me?"

"What do you want Tifa?" Kairi asked with a frown while she still kept on walking.

"I was just wondering what my favorite classmate was doing," Tifa said when she finally caught up with the very annoyed Kairi. Tifa was several inches taller than Kairi, had jet black hair and would always wear her school uniform without a tie and jacket with two of the blouse's buttons undone.

"Just get away from me; shouldn't you be torturing you're slave?" Kairi asked as she quickened her pace.

"I can torture Aerith later, but I was wondering why you didn't have a slave yet?" Tifa asked with a finger in her lips. Kairi decided that it was best to ignore the really annoying teen and kept on walking without responding to Tifa's comments. She had learned how to ignore people since she was always picked on for some reason, "bad fate" Kairi would think but somehow she knew that that wasn't true, somewhere deep in her heart she knew that she would get a break.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

"Okay class you can leave, Kairi you stay," the history teacher said with a smile. The history classroom was large and of course made of dark blue stone, it had many windows on the side and was located on the second floor of the school building. Kairi sighed as she walked towards the teacher's desk for she knew what this was about.

"What's wrong Ms. Anderson?" Kairi asked in a quiet voice.

"Well Kairi I hate to say this but you're not very good at using your magic. You should study more and stop doing shores, that is a Sera's job," the blonde teacher said as she fixed her glasses.

"I know, my parents are working on getting me one. They should get me one by tomorrow," Kairi said with slight desperation.

"Okay then Kairi, you may leave," the teacher said with a frown. Kairi didn't need to be told twice and quickly exited the depressing room, she was of course lying about getting the slave.

"Kairi wait up," yelled a voice from the end of the hallway, footsteps could be heard and soon there was a brunette girl running towards Kairi.

Kairi smiled slightly and walked towards her best friend, Selphie. "Hi Selphie how are you?" she asked when close enough.

"Hi Kairi, I see you got in trouble with the teacher again. How come?" Selphie asked with a loud voice, making many students turn their heads.

"It's the slave thing again, don't worry I got it covered," Kairi said with a fake smile that would always fool Selphie. "Now let's get to class," she said as she and Selphie walked towards their next class.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

Outside of the school, well near the gate separating the two towns to be exact were two police officers. One of them was tall and had brown hair, and the other was slightly shorter than the other and had spiky blond hair. They were both on the alert in case someone decided to cause trouble and enter the home of the Specials.

"Another slow day, why is it that no Seras show up when I need a slave for my sister," the man said with a sigh.

"Take it easy Leon, I'm sure you'll find a slave for Kairi sooner of later," the blond said in a monotone voice.

"I hope so since she has little time to find one, remember to tell me if you catch one Cloud," Leon said with a stern voice.

"For the tenth time, yes I will look for a freaking Sera," Cloud said with an annoyed look in his face.

"Thanks," Leon said with a small smirk as the two stood next to each other with their arms crossed. A bunch of "did Leon just thank someone?" came from the other officers that walked near the gate, but Leon just ignored them and continued to look forward with no emotion on his face.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

It was now eight o' clock in Hollow Bastion and two teens stood next to each other near a large sewer hole. Sora was standing with his hands behind his head while Roxas was pacing franticly.

"Why aren't they here yet? Why aren't they here yet? Why aren't they here yet?" Roxas said as he paced.

"Calm down Rox, they'll get here," Sora said with a smile.

"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN, WHEN THOSE IDIOTS DON'T SHOW UP IN TIME FOR THEIR OWN PLAN," Roxas yelled with a death glare making Sora laugh nervously and put his hands up in defense.

"You ready," said a voice behind the two. The duo turned around and saw Seifer and his gang walking towards them with smirks.

"What the hell I thought you said eight?" Roxas yelled in frustration.

"Take it easy we had to get some things," Seifer said with a small laugh, "are you two ready?" he asked as they walked towards the sewer hole.

"Ready," Sora and Roxas replied at the same time. Ever since they met they had always had similar minds and could tell what the other was thinking by communicating through grunts and hand motions, 'guy talk' they called it.

"Well let's go," Seifer said with a hand signal to Sora. Sora obliged and walked towards the locked metal door that led to the inside of the hole, he took out a small metal stick from his pocket and started fumbling with the door's keyhole. Within minutes the door opened and with a nod from Seifer they entered the hole that led to the home of the Specials, Radiant Garden.

**Ch. 2 End**

**A/N: I hope you like this chapter and sorry for the long update, I've been really busy latterly. Like said above, I will be able to update a lot faster this following week so be sure to check on the story whenever you can. And thanks for the reviews peoples I really appreciate it.**


	3. Busted

**Well here's an early update on my story, I have been busier than expected recently but will still try to update whenever I can. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts**

**Kingdom Hearts: Slave of Love**

**Ch. 3 Busted**

In one of the many sewage pipes Sora, Roxas, Seifer, Rai, and Fuu walked along the high ground that would keep them from touching the disgusting water. The sewage tunnel was very big and was like a giant maze, and of course with Seifer being so full of himself the group had no idea where they were going, "I don't need a map, I'm the map!" Seifer would always say when asked if he should've taken a map. Seifer took a right turn and the group was met by a green brick wall, everyone in the group groaned in unision and glared at Seifer.

"I know where I'm going!!!" Seifer exclaimed with a blush on his face. "Damn it Seifer you have no freaking idea where we're going, so let me lead," Roxas said with an angry expression on his face.

"Yeah let Roxas lead, he's really good when it comes to getting out of trouble," Sora said with a nod. Seifer growled and folded his arms with an angry look in his face, he appeared mad but everyone who knew him well enough knew that in Seifer language a growl and an angry look meant 'ok'. Roxas smirked and stuck a finger in his mouth, soon after he took it out and held it in the air.

"What the heck are you doing?" Sora asked with a grossed out expression. "I'm going to see if there's an air current, if we find one that should take us to the exit," Roxas said with a triumphant smirk.

"Why didn't you think of that Seifer?" Sora asked with a mock innocent expression. "Shut up," Seifer said with a death glare that made the group flinch. Sora laughed nervously and followed Roxas, who had started to walk away.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

"Let's call it a night officers, all day guards are dismissed. All of you night guards start patrolling!" yelled an officer in a commanding tone, he had short blond hair, many wrinkles in his face and a toothpick in his mouth. "Let's go ladies we don't have all day, or night for that matter."

"YES SIR, CID SIR!!!" yelled a large group of officers as they bowed before Cid and left the Radiant Garden gates. Cid narrowed his eyes at the remaining officers and then walked into a tall circular building that stood behind him.

"Oh man he looked pissed," said Cloud as he and Leon walked away from the gates, "he usually doesn't get like this, what do you think Leon?"

"Well I think that you should stop worrying about Cid, and help me find a slave for my sister," Leon said with a frown. "It shouldn't be too hard to find one, don't worry we'll find that when we least expect it," Cloud said with a small smirk. Leon continued to walk through the now dark streets of Radiant Garden and kept a frown in his face at all times.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

"FINALLY!!!" Sora yelled happily when the group got out of the sewers, before he knew it there where six pairs of hands holding his mouth and six pairs of eyes staring at his with death written all over them.

"Shut up Sora, we're in Radiant Garden now. We shouldn't be too loud since those damned Specials are probably around," Roxas said with a frown. Sora nodded weakly and was set free, "now let's just go to nearby houses and be in our way."

"Since when do you give the orders?" Seifer asked with a frown in his face. "Fine what do you think we should do, oh great Seifer?" Roxas asked with a roll of his eyes that was unnoticed by Seifer. "We should steal from nearby housed and be in our way," Seifer said in a gloaty voice.

"Fine," Roxas hissed with a vein popping in his head. With a "let's go" from Seifer the group walked towards the homes that stood in the distance and began phase two of their plan: Take Everything.

When they reached the first house they had Sora open the fancy wooden door, when it came to this Sora was always the best since somehow he could open any door without damaging the lock, making his work flawless and untraceable. The group walked into the house and couldn't help but awe at the large home with many valuables that would surely sell high in the Hollow Market.

"Let's begin," Seifer said with a smirk as the group started to search the house for valuables.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

Leon was now walking alone through the streets and couldn't help but sigh at how his sister was doing; no matter how many times she said that school was going well he knew that her school life must be hell for she was always an outcast in class. Leon kept his gaze fixed on the ground and couldn't help but feel useless for not being able to help his sister.

'Just when I need a Sera, they decide to not show up anymore. Just my luck,' Leon thought as he neared his home. It was a cozy home in Leon's point of view but he couldn't get over the fact that there was a large sewer right behind it giving the surroundings an awful smell. "At least I don't pay much for the place," Leon said to himself as he neared his door and took out his keys.

Inside of the house the group of teens had filled up the bag with valuables and were getting ready to leave when suddenly they heard the door being opened. All of them froze on their tracks and stared at the intimidating officer that had entered the room, the officer himself started at them with a blank face.

"Retreat," Seifer yelled as he, Rai, and Fuu jumped out of an open window and ran for their lives. Sora quickly picked up the frozen Roxas by the back of his shirt and belt and made his way towards the open window.

"Wait right there!" Leon spat as he got over his shock and ran towards the two. Sora quickly threw Roxas out of the house, followed by the bag of valuables that had been left behind by the three idiots. Sora was about to climb out but before he could get completely out he was pulled violently by Leon. Leon then threw Sora against a wall and kicked him on the stomach, knocking the air out of him.

"Sora," Roxas yelled from outside of the house. "Don't worry about me Roxas, just go!!" Sora yelled with blood coming out of his mouth, Roxas knew that panicked Sora was always right and ran towards the sewers with a great sense of guilt.

"What the hell did you want here?" Leon asked in anger.

"Hahaha, we already took what we wanted you damned Special," Sora said with a weary smile. He then got up and faced Leon with a smirk, "you lose."

"Damn you!!!" Leon yelled as he fired a fire spell at Sora that made contact with his chest. Sora cried in pain and fell on the ground, he could feel overwhelming pain but for some reason he didn't want to give in. Sora slowly stood up, making Leon gasp in surprise, and gave a weary smile before losing consciousness and falling on the ground.

Leon was never a person to be surprised easily but he couldn't believe that a Sera was able to take on his attack and be able to stand up, it was simply incredible. Leon smiled at the teen before breaking into an evil smirk.

"Looks like I've found Kairi's new slave," Leon said as he neared Sora and placed a black and yellow metal wristband (taken out of Leon's pocket, this was used by the police when a slave was captured and could only be taken out by a special key) in his left wrist. Leon's eyes widened when he saw the bright silver necklace that hung form the teen's neck. "Looks like I caught Spiky," Leon said with a dry laugh.

**End Ch. 3**

**A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter and thanks for the review. I might be able to update by Friday so be sure to check on the story, the reason why I couldn't update more quickly is because I was scarred for life on Monday. Have you ever seen "School Days" it's a good anime but when you get to the end AAAAHHHH I don't want to think about it. Anyway hope you liked this chapter and if you're curious watch "School Days" at your own risk.**


	4. Roxas' Choice

**Well here's the next chapter and I'm sorry I couldn't update faster. I had way too much schoolwork and then my computer decided to play dead.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts (whoops forgot to put one on the other chapters)**

**Kingdom Hearts: Slave of Love**

**Ch. 4 Roxas' Choice**

Roxas ran through the now empty streets of Hollow Bastion, he had a clearly worried expression on his face and was breathing in short gasps. He had been running non-stop for an hour and his legs and lungs clearly wished to go no further, but he kept on pushing himself in order to get help for Sora's problem. A short laughed escaped Roxas' mouth once he noticed that he was only a few more minutes away from Larxene's house, after Sora had been left behind Roxas knew that Larxene would be of some help and that together they would come up with a way so save Sora.

'Finally,' Roxas thought as he saw Larxene's house in the distance; her house was small but could somehow fit about six people when needed, but though the house was old it had a cozy feeling when you walked inside. Roxas smiled once he was in Larxene's yard, he noticed a few new flowers and shrubs but he dismissed the thought and focused on entering the house and explaining the situation to Larxene. Once he opened the door he stopped dead on his tracks at the sight in front of him, his girlfriend Larxene was making out with Axel in the living room couch (if you could call that a living room). Roxas stood motionless in front of the couple and a quiet "w-what?" escaped his lips, causing the other two to break apart and see Roxas' still figure.

"R-Roxas what are you doing here?" Larxene asked with a shocked expression on her face, her breathing was uneven due to the lack of breath she had from the kiss. Roxas didn't answer he just stood there with a blank expression on his face and he hated that, he hated not being able to do anything, he hated feeling utterly helpless. His mind was screaming, begging, commanding his body to move but to no avail, Roxas didn't know why he couldn't move or say anything but he did know that he had been betrayed. "This was an accident," Larxene continued, "This doesn't mean anything. I love you." She then moved towards Roxas and tried to touch his shoulder only to have him slap it away with great force, making Larxene wince at the pain.

"Don't you dare touch me," Roxas muttered in a quiet yet threatening voice, "I now what happened, you were sad that Axel was sent to prison so you had to find someone to preoccupy you while he was away. You simply used me to replace Axel while making me believe that I was the one you cared about. So, don't you dare come near me or I'll make sure you and your clown regret it." With that Roxas left the house, leaving Larxene and Axel completely taken back, and as soon as he was a safe distance he collapsed on the ground. Roxas fell on the hard ground and let his tears loose, he cried hard and started punching the concrete ground. 'What the hell did I do to deserve this?' Roxas thought as he continued to punch the ground, 'Why did everything I care about disappear in just one day? First Larxene and then So-'Roxas was cut from his thoughts once he remembered his bftb (best friend technically brother, Sora had come up with this when they were younger, nobody knows where he got this from) Sora. "What am I doing?" Roxas muttered to himself as he slowly got up, "Sora is in trouble and I'm here crying like a baby. Larxene is a bitch and she doesn't deserve my tears, my main focus is on finding a way to save my friend, no, my brother." Roxas wiped his tears with his now bloody hand and walked towards the darkness of the streets.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Leon walked near the gates of the school with a large sack slung over his right shoulder; he carried the bag with ease and didn't seem to be bothered with the light movements that came from the inside. He might look calm and collected but on the inside Leon is completely, utterly, thoroughly happy to have found a slave for his sister, Kairi, on time.

"May I help you sir?" asked a middle aged woman that stood outside the schools gate.

"My name is Leon Hart, I'm here to deliver a slave to my sister Kairi Hart," Leon said in an emotionless voice.

"Okay then here's your permit and be sure not to wake anybody in the dormitory," the woman said as she gave Leon a small rectangular piece of paper with the word 'VISITOR' printed in black. Leon thanked the woman and entered the school's garden; it had a strong smell of wet grass, the sound of crickets and a clear view of the star filled sky. 'Haven't been here in a long time,' Leon thought with a small grin, he continued on his way and finally reached the large circular building that housed the girls of the school. As he entered the dormitory he was about to be stopped by a security guard but with a flash of his own badge and visitor pass the man backed down. 'What floor is she in again?' Leon asked himself but then noticed a picture that listed the floors by alphabetical order depending on the last names on the students. Quickly finding the floor named 'H' Leon took the stairs with the moving sack still slung in his right shoulder. A few minutes later Leon found Kairi's room and decided to open it without knocking, in order not to awake her and start a large argument due to her bad mood when she wakes up. Leon entered the room and wasted no time at opening the room's cage and violently throwing Sora into it, luckily for Leon Sora was still unconscious and didn't seem to be in bad condition. "Welcome home," Leon muttered as he sat in a desk next to the sleeping form of Kairi and began to write a letter.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Light shone through Kairi's window, indicating it was morning and Kairi began to stir. She slowly got up with a yawn and began to rub the sleep out of her eyes, but then she heard a kind of growl and covered herself in her bed sheets. 'What was that?' Kairi thought in fear, 'Did an animal get into my room?' Kairi then began to take off the sheets and noticed a letter under her pillow; she wasted no time in opening it and reading its contents.

_Kairi_

_Here's your slave_

_Leon_

Kairi sweatdropped at the letter and couldn't help but giggle at Leon's "letter", but then her face grew serious when she re-read the slave part of the letter. She glanced at her desk and sure enough there was a small square yellow and black remote with a single red button. 'If I have a slave obedience remote then,' Kairi turned to the cage in her room and saw a boy, about her age, sleeping peacefully on the cage's hay bed. 'I finally have a slave,' she thought with a smile, she then glanced at Sora again, 'and he doesn't look that weird.' Kairi got off from bed and walked towards the remote Leon had probably left her, these remotes were said to give out an electrical discharge to whoever is wearing its wristband counterpads. With curiosity getting the best of her Kairi slowly pushed the red button.

"AAAAAHHHHH," Sora yelled as he felt pain surge through his body and then leave suddenly. "What the hell was that?" he asked himself as he rubbed his head, "Wait a minute where am I?" Sora became aware of his presence and started panicking that is until he saw her, a girl about his age with auburn hair and blue eyes. "Who are you?" Sora asked shyly.

"It's not polite for a slave to ask the name of its master, first tell me your name," Kairi said with her arms crossed.

"My name's Sora," he said with a frown, "Now will you grace me with your name?"

"No," Kairi said as she began to walk towards the restroom door.

"What?" Sora yelled in anger, "I've been beaten, kidnapped and apparently electrocuted and you can't tell me your name?"

Kairi stared at Sora with a blank expression before turning around and saying "Yep" with a smile on her face.

**Ch. 4 End**

**Well this is the end of Chapter 4, tell me what you think. Again sorry for saying I would update quickly and then not keeping my word I was just way too busy with schoolwork, shores, friends, etc. Well hoped you liked this chapter and thanks for the reviews!**


	5. Sora's New Life

**Hey sorry it took so long but here's the next chapter of my story. To make up for it I'm going to make this the longest chapter I've ever written (which is probably like 2,000 words XD). Reason I've been out is because of finals at my school but I should be able to update a lot after Wednesday since it will mark the end of my High School career.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts**

**Kingdom Hearts: Slave of Love**

**Ch. 5 Sora's New Life**

Sora sat inside his cage with a thoughtful look on his face, Kairi hadn't gotten out of what he presumed to be a bathroom and he tried to figure out what to do. He knew that he wanted to leave as soon as possible but he didn't know where he was and he had a feeling that leaving would be a lot harder than that since he still had the bracelet in his left wrist.

'The bracelet,' Sora thought as he looked for a keyhole on the bracelet, as long as it had a keyhole that is. "Got it," he whispered with a smile on his face as he eyed the seemingly normal keyhole. He reached into his pocket, praying to all of the gods that they hadn't been emptied, and smiled when he felt one of his picklocks. "Looks like I'll be out of here sooner than expected," Sora said to himself as he brought the picklock down onto the keyhole.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Kairi stood in front of the bathroom's mirror washing her teeth with a glint of happiness in her eyes. She was now fully dressed in her school uniform and for the first time in her life couldn't wait for school, since she could finally show Tifa that she got her own slave. Kairi spitted out the rest of the toothpaste and with one last look at the mirror walked out of the bathroom. The first thing she noticed when she walked out was the smell of smoke, barbecue if she had to guess, and secondly the burned unconscious teen that laid inside the cage. With a frown Kairi took a cup of water and threw it at Sora's face, making him regain consciousness and start coughing violently.

"Wake up slave," Kairi said with a frown, "I'm going to school so you have to get ready."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sora yelled in anger as he stood up and faced Kairi. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

"Well you have to come. I'm your owner and therefore you have to listen to what I have to say. So let's go!" Kairi snapped. She stood there waiting for Sora for submit but after a few seconds he stuck his tongue out to her and crossed his arms. "So, that's how it is," she murmured as she walked to bed and took the SOR (Slave Obedience Remote).

"This is your last chance," Kairi said with a smirk.

"How many times do I have to tell you? I'm NOT going with yo- AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH," Sora yelled in pain as he felt the electricity go through his body, he fell on the floor and yelled in agony. Soon the electricity stopped and Sora could see the Kairi opening the cage with a smirk on her face.

"Are we going?" She asked with a smile. "After you," Sora said with a weary expression on his face.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

It was a sunny day in Radiant Garden and the sunlight hit the school's garden walls and gave them an unnatural glow that made them look a deep color blue. The birds were chirping and the colorful flowers adorned the garden, it was a truly great day and all the passing students seem to think so to well all except the brown haired teen that had a look of complete irritation. Sora and Kairi were walking towards the school's main building and because school was about to start Sora had to hear whatever rules Kairi had come up with.

"Now slave, what do you do when I go into the school building?" Kairi asked with her arms crossed.

"Try to escape for my life?" Sora asked with a hopeful expression on his face. Kairi gave "the look" (if you're a guy you already know what it looks like) to Sora making him drop the hopeful expression and sigh heavily. "I wait for you with the other slaves," he said as they neared the school's main building.

"Good now leave I'm going to class," Kairi said as she walked into the building via a large wooden door.

Sora sighed and ran a hand through his hair 'guess I've nothing else to do but go find the other slaves,' Sora thought with a frown. He walked towards the school's main building and noticed several people with old worn out clothes sitting against a wall that had a clear view of the wooden door. Sora walked towards the people and noticed two men about forty years old sitting way to close to a girl that looked completely uncomfortable.

"Come on girl, why don't we have some fun?" one of the man said as he took hold of the girl's left arm. The girl had brown hair that curled on the ends and bright green eyes; she wore an old light brown dress with a yellow vest over it.

"Leave me alone," the girl said with a frightened voice as she tried to move away the man's arm.

"It's not polite to do that to someone who only wants to have fun," the other man said with a wicked grin as he stoop up and lifted the girl to her feet. "Why don't you give me an 'I'm sorry' kiss," he then moved his lips towards the petrified girl but before he could make contact he was pulled away from the girl.

"Leave her alone you sick bastards!" Sora yelled from behind the men. "Who the hell are you?" one of the men asked. "My name is Sora and if you leave the girl alone, I'll let you go," Sora said with a serious expression on his face.

"I've had enough of this," one of the men said as he threw a punch at Sora but missed since Sora ducked out of the way. "I'm telling you again, leave!" Sora said with an angry expression on his face but was ignored as the other man charged towards Sora. Sora gave an annoyed grunt and sidestepped out of the way, he followed with an elbow to the man's stomach and a kick on the man's shin. The man cried in pain and fell on the ground Sora then started to kick the man but was then pushed towards the ground by the other man. The man began to punch Sora on the face while the other man got up with and got a knife out of his pocket. After much struggle Sora pushed the man off and got up but fell back down when he felt a burning sensation all around his back, he saw the man with his knife held up ready to bring it down but he was suddenly thrown back. Sora sat up slowly to see what was going on and saw the two men knocked unconscious before a man with black hair and an eye patch.

"You okay?" the man said in an emotionless voice. Sora eyed the man curiously before slowly getting up and facing him.

"My name's Sora," he said with a small smile, "thanks for your help, Mr.?" The man stood there quietly apparently not knowing what Sora meant. "I'm asking for your name," he asked with a smile.

"You should have just asked like a normal person would," the man said with the same emotionless voice. "So what's your name?" Sora asked a little annoyed. "Auron," the man said before walking away from the building.

'That was close,' Sora thought with a sigh. "Excuse me," said a sweet voice making Sora turn around and face the girl that he had protected.

"Thanks for standing up for me," the girl said with a sweet smile that made Sora blush, "My name's Olette nice to meet you."

"Um, I'm Sora nice to meet you too," Sora said with a nervous smile on his face. "Uhh are you a slave too?"

"Yeah since I was born, what about you?" Olette said with a smile that made Sora blush again.

"I only became a slave yesterday, I used to live in Hollow Bastion before this," Sora said with a bitter smile. "Wow you've actually lived in Hollow Bastion? What's it like?" Olette said with a bright smile. "Well it isn't that great but there are some really good people there. Like one time when I was young me and Rox-"Sora's eyes widened at the thought of Roxas, it hadn't crossed his mind that Roxas had been left alone in Hollow Bastion. He and Roxas had always been together and he knew that Roxas wouldn't rest until he was back at Hollow Bastion; Sora hoped that Roxas would come up with something soon since he knew that he wouldn't be able to tolerate that Kairi girl.

"Sora?" Olette said in concern making Sora snap out of his thoughts. "Are you okay?" she asked as she put a hand on his left cheek, making Sora blush out of control.

"I'm fine," Sora said while taking Olette's hand away. "I'm a lot stronger than I look, I've been in a lot of fights before so I'll be alright," he said with a smile. "Well I'm taking a look at your wound whether you want to or not," Olette said as she took Sora's hand and led him into the girl's dorm building.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Kairi's first class was now over and all of the students on her year left the class and headed to their respective destinations. Kairi walked in one of the building's hallways with a relieved expression on her face, she still hated school but at least people couldn't make fun of her for not having a slave anymore.

"Hi Kairi!" said a voice behind her, Kairi sighed and sped her pace. "Come on Kairi, why are you walking away," Tifa whined as she tried to catch up to Kairi.

"What do you want Tifa?" asked with a frown. "I just wanted to know if you were still a slaveless loser,' she said with a smirk. "No Tifa, I have my own slave now," Kairi said while still trying to walk away from Tifa. "Really where is he?" Tifa asked with slight interest.

"He should be waiting for me outside," Kairi said as she neared the door. She and Tifa walked out of the building and Kairi's eyes widened when she didn't notice Sora among the crowd of slaves. "So where's your slave?" Tifa asked with an amused grin while Kairi looked frantically for the missing Sora. "Well I'd love to stay and watch you make a fool of yourself but I have to go," Tifa said before finding her slave, Aerith and leaving for the girl's dormitory. "Dammit Sora where are you?" Kairi asked herself through gritted teeth as she went to look for him in the garden.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

A bandaged Sora laid in the green grass (that made up the school's beautiful garden) alongside a happy looking Olette that sat with Sora's head on her lap. They had come to the garden after Sora's wounds had been taken care of, a very painful memory for Sora, and started to talk about whatever was on their minds. Sora still thought of what became of Roxas, he knew he was alright but something deep down told him that Roxas would end up doing something stupid in order to save him. Sora's thoughts were interrupted when he felt Olette move slightly.

"If you're uncomfortable I can take my head off," Sora said as he turned his head to see Olette. "It's okay I was only moving subconsciously and besides I was the one who suggested this," Olette said with a bright smile. Sora smiled back at the brunette and they lost themselves in each other's eyes, Sora felt happy for the first time he had gotten to Radiant Garden and knew that there might be some good in the mess his life had become. That is until he felt someone glaring at him and Olette, the feeling made him feel strangely agitated, uncomfortable and somewhat afraid. He sat up and his eyes met with a very angry red head with a flushed face, she appeared to have been running around for some time and he could technically see murder on her eyes.

"H-hi, done with school," Sora said with a nervous smile as he stood up and scratched the back of his head. Olette got off the ground too and stood next to Sora, apparently knowing that Sora was in some kind of trouble with the girl.

"Yes I'm done and if I remember correctly I asked my stupid slave to wait for me outside," Kairi said with calm yet threatening voice that made Sora anticipate the worse.

"Well I'm technically outside," Sora said with a nervous smile. "You know what I meant," Kairi said with a low growl. Sora saw Kairi get even more angry with his smartass comment and decided not to test his luck anymore and just take whatever punishment she gave him, 'besides what could a small girl like her do' Sora's inner voice told him.

"Excuse me," Olette said timidly, getting the attention of the two teens. "But Sora did nothing wrong. He just protected me from two men and got wounded; I offered to heal his wounds as a show of gratitude. So please don't be mad at him," she said with a look of guilt on her face.

"I didn't ask for your opinion now leave," Kairi said in an emotionless voice (that probably ran in the family). Olette nodded nervously and mouthed a 'sorry' to Sora before walking towards the school's main building. Sora watched Olette disappear in the distance and knew that he was now left alone to face the wrath of Kairi.

"What were you doing with her!" Kairi snapped at Sora making him flinch slightly and put his head down with a 'oh crap' look on his face. "Well?" Kairi said with her hands on her hips.

"She already told you what we were doing," Sora said in a quiet voice. "She did tell me, but what I don't understand was why you were acting all love struck around her," Kairi said with her hands crossed around her chest. "She was just being friendly," Sora said in a quiet voice while hoping to get away from the angry girl. Kairi turned her back on Sora and said "Let's go to my room," while walking towards the dormitory. Sora gulped but followed the redhead, he knew that it wasn't going to be pretty and he couldn't understand why Kairi had gotten so mad. But he did know that while on Radiant Garden he couldn't do much, he had to keep a low profile and then leave when most convenient but that happy day wasn't today. Today he had to keep following the redhead that would probably yell at him until his ears bled, he had know since a young age that when an angry girl is quiet you might as well jump in a hole and bury yourself. "Crap," Sora said with a sigh as they reached the inside of the dormitory.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Meanwhile Olette waited for her master outside of the school's main building, she had a happy look on her face and would sigh dreamily from time to time. 'He was so handsome and brave,' Olette thought with a blush 'I hope I get to see him again,' Olette giggled at the thought of being alone with Sora again.

"What are you giggling about?" said a sweet voice behind her. Olette turned around and was met with a blond haired girl wearing the school's uniform. "Ah, master Namine I'm sorry I didn't see you," Olette said with blush as she quickly vowed.

"I already told you that you don't have to call me 'master' or vow before me," Namine said with a sweet smile as she pulled Olette up, "Now you have to tell me what you where giggling at."

"Uh, it's nothing master Namine," Olette said with a deep blush across her face, Namine noticed this and came up with an explanation. "You're not in love are you?" she said with a grin on her face making Olette look away from her while biting her lip. "Come on Olette please tell me," Namine whined while taking Olette's hands in hers.

"Fine," Olette giggled "but you can't tell anyone." Namine zipped her lips with a smile and motioned for Olette to keep going. "He's name is Sora," Olette said in a quiet voice that Namine barely heard, "he's Ms. Kairi's slave."

"So she finally got a slave," Namine said to herself quietly. "Well Olette I'm going to help you two become a couple," Namine said cheerfully making Olette blush even deeper and wail her arms while saying "Don't do that," over and over again.

"Don't worry I'll get you two together in no time," Namine said ignoring the blushing girl in front of her. "Namine's foolproof love plans begin now," she said with a glint of excitement on her eyes.

**Ch. 5 End**

**Well I hope this made up for my lack of updates. Like said above I'll be able to update more frequently starting next week so be sure to check regularly next week. You see two new characters in this chapter and this story will not only revolve around Sora and Kairi, it will revolve around everyone and what they plan on doing. So don't get mad if I barely mention Sora and Kairi in some chapters. Hope you liked this chapter and thanks for the reviews!**


	6. Riku Appears

**Here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for all of the reviews you have sent me, I would have been able to update sooner but I've been having family problems and I didn't feel like writing. Enough about me, now here's the new chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts….. yet (dun dun dun dun). But really I don't own it.**

**Kingdom Hearts: Slave of Love**

**Ch. 6 Riku Appears**

Kairi walked in the school gardens with a heavily burn and frizzled haired Sora, who had a frown on his face and hung his head as he walked. They were going to a store since Sora had nothing but the clothes on his back and to Kairi's horror any clean underwear. Sora continued to walk with his head down, he could smell the freshly cut grass and feel the sun's warmth against his skin; a good day, to Sora's misfortune. He then heard footsteps on the distance and raised his head to see who it was, but the moment his head moved up he received a slap on the back of his head and a scowl from Ka

"Why can't I look up? I'm going to bump into something if I keep on walking like this," Sora said, his gaze never leaving the floor.

"I already told you," Kairi said with a frown, "you're not allowed to raise your head because the moment you do, you'll probably go after some girl again." Sora stopped walking and glared at Kairi, _wow she has pretty eyes, NO Sora you're angry so act angry_. "I'm not some idiot that goes gaga over any girl he sees," he said with a frown that disappeared when he noticed that Kairi had stopped walking and glared back at him. He suddenly felt a chill go down his spine and could imagine himself getting electrocuted the second Kairi looked at him straight in the eye.

"Who allowed you to look up?" Kairi asked in an icy tone that made Sora realize his mistake and quickly lower his head again.

"Sorry I just forg- AHHHHHHHH," Sora yelled when he felt the electricity go through him once again. He fell on the ground and gritted his teeth in order to reduce the pain, which to his bad luck didn't work. Kairi let go off the button and kneeled next to Sora, all he saw was a red stain on top of a blurry image. "Are we going to have anymore troubles," Kairi asked with a smirk, that Sora couldn't see due to his blurry vision. Receiving a groan from Sora, Kairi smiled and said "good" before getting up and kicking Sora on the stomach in order to get him to follow.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

"What did you say?" said a silver haired teen with a cold voice. He was in an average sized room that was painted a light color brown and had a wooden floor (a standard room for the boy's dormitory). The teen was sitting in a wooden chair with a frown on his face; he was talking to a man that was kneeling in front of him that was at least thirty years old.

"I'm sorry master Riku," the man said with fear emitting from his voice. This was the same man that had fought Sora on the garden, he had told Riku all that had happened and was now being scolded by him.

"I don't care about some dirty slave assaulting a girl. What I do care about is that MY slave had to gang up on one slave in order to win. I have an image to take care of and I won't lose it because of a dirty slave," Riku said in a cold voice, he then stood up and walked towards the window. He moved the window's curtain and gazed at the school's garden, there he saw a spiky-haired teen on the ground with a girl kneeling next to him. "Is that the spiky guy you were talking about?" he asked with a smirk on his face. The slave walked towards the window and nodded once he saw Sora laying on the ground.

"That's the guy master," the man said in a quiet voice.

"You couldn't take care of some skinny guy?" Riku asked with a growl. The man only shook in fear and looked down. "Fine, I'll take care of that idiot. You stay here and make sure that my room is spotless," Riku said before knocking a vase off a table and walking out the door.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Sora and Kairi walked through the streets of Radiant Garden, the streets were crowded with people looking for new unnecessary things to buy and the sun shone brightly on the street. Sora was sweating slightly, due to the heat, and kept on looking for an escape route for later; while Kairi walked in front of him with an emotionless expression on her face, apparently not too happy about wasting money to buy Sora new clothes. Kairi stopped on her tracks when they reached an old looking shop that had a sign wooden sign that read 'Merlin's' on top of the door, there were two windows that displayed model clothes on both sides of the door.

"Let's go," Kairi said before entering the store with Sora following closely. The inside of the store looked as old as the outside and had four rows of clothes in front of the front desk that stood on the right wall. An old men wearing a brown vest over a white long sleeve shirt stood behind the desk; the men was at least sixty-four years old and had an old worn out face, a pair of glasses and a long white beard that reached his knees.

"Welcome to Merl-ms. Kairi is that you?" Merlin asked with a smile.

"Hi Merlin, how have you been?" Kairi asked with a smile. _Whoa she is actually able to be nice, _Sora thought as he and Kairi walked towards the desk. "I've been well although I can't say the same about my business here," Merlin said with a small smile.

"So what brings you here Ms. Kairi?" Merlin asked with a smile. "Well I'm here to buy clothes for this," Kairi said, pointing at Sora.

"Looks like you have gotten yourself a boyfriend, ms. Kairi," Merlin said making Kairi blush and shake her head from side to side while Sora looked taken back and laughed nervously.

"NO Merlin, this is my slave," Kairi said with the blush still adorning her cheeks. Merlin laughed slightly and took off his glasses in order to wipe them on his vest, "I'm sorry about the mix up Ms. Kairi, I'll be happy to help with what I can."

"Good, just make sure that is the cheapest clothing on the store," she said in the same emotionless voice Sora was used to.

"Yeah, buy me crap," Sora murmured quietly but not quietly enough to avoid Kairi's sharp ears. "What was that slave?" Kairi asked with a raised voice, making Sora back away slightly and raise his hands defensibly. "No need to get angry, I was only kidding," Sora said while praying not to get electrocuted.

Merlin chuckled slightly and walked towards a row of clothes, "if you come with me, we'll find what you're looking for." Sora and Kairi followed Merlin to the row and started browsing for clothes while Sora noted for the first time that the store smelled like old perfume. _What did I do to deserve this? _Sora asked himself while Merlin and Kairi looked for clothes.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Riku walked on the outskirts of the school with an angry look on his face. The outskirts of the school was the area that made the school secluded from the city; it was mostly grass with a dirt road that started in town and ended on the school's gate. Riku was walking along the dirt road trying to find the spiky teen that his slave had told him about. "Nobody makes messes with my possessions without consequences," Riku said to himself as he continued to walk and soon spotted the 'spiky teen' walking with the 'redhead girl' on the distance. The 'spiky teen' was holding three bags while the 'redhead girl' walked next to him showing him some kind of remote that made him walk behind her.

"Hey you two!" Riku yelled at the two once close enough, making them look at him curiously and stop in front of him.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Kairi asked in an angry voice. Riku didn't say anything but only glared at Sora making him feel uneasy. "What are you looking at?" Sora asked with a nervous voice.

"You're the one that got on a fight with my slave, right?" Riku asked the now angry Sora. "You're friends with that stupid guy?" Sora asked in an angry voice.

Riku chuckled darkly and grinned, "what makes you think that I will associate myself with a dirty slave. You offend me by calling him my friend." Sora gritted his teeth at the arrogant guy that stood in front of him. "Just tell me what you want so you can get out of here," Sora yelled at Riku.

Riku frowned and glared at Sora, "learn your place slave! What makes you think you can talk to me like that?" Sora grinned at Riku before raising his right fist and sending him the finger message. "You vulgar bastard!" Riku yelled in extreme anger, "I'm going to make you regret ever doing that."

Riku raised his right hand and pointed his palm at Sora. Sora eyed Riku's hand with curiosity and gasped when he saw a few sparks of fire come out and transform into a fireball. "Take this!" Riku said before shooting the fireball at Sora, but before if made contact it hit an invisible barrier that made the fireball disperse.

"What are you doing?" Sora yelled at Kairi, who had her hand raised. "What do you mean?" Kairi yelled back. "I mean that you shouldn't risk getting hurt for my sake," he answered in the same tone. Kairi sighed and dropped the barrier, she then turned to Sora with an annoyed expression, "I can't have my slave getting killed so here you go." She snapped her fingers and a weapon materialized on Sora's hand. Sora looked at the weapon in awe; the weapon was a key-shaped sword was silver on the blade and had a yellow handle.

"What is this?" Sora asked as he swung the blade a few times. "It's called a keyblade. It's a weapon that any Special can summon," Kairi said with a grin. Sora flashed a smile at Kairi that made her blush, "th-the keyblade adds ten years to your slave time, so don't take it as a gift," she said in panic. Sora sighed at his misfortune but then rolled to his right in order to avoid another fireball, as soon as he stood up he was hit with a piece of stone on the chest. Sora fell backwards a couple of steps and gasped in pain, but as he laid on the ground he saw another fireball coming his way and raised his keyblade in an attempt to cover the attack. To Sora's surprise the keyblade absorbed the fireball, he took no time to be surprised and quickly dashed towards Riku. As Sora ran Riku shot another fireball at Sora, who in turn swung his keyblade to disperse it. When close enough Sora struck Riku on the stomach and kicked him to the ground, he then pointed the tip of the keyblade to Riku's neck and stepped on his chest.

Sora stood still and glared at Riku, who was on the ground with an angry expression. Neither of them moved, Sora still had a hardened expression while Riku glared at Sora as if daring him to slice his neck.

"You win," Riku said after a moment with a disappointed gaze on his face. Sora waited for a moment before taking the keyblade away from Riku's neck and stepping off his chest. "I'll get you back for this embarrassment. Don't forget that you haven't seen the last of me dirty slave," Riku said as he got up and walked away from the two teens.

Sora sighed in relief and the keyblade disappeared from his hands, he looked at his hand curiously but then was pushed back by the redhead that jumped into his arms, "you did it!" Kairi said with a bright smile. They stared at each other's eyes before Kairi's eyes widened in shock at the situation she was in. She then pushed Sora to the ground with a bright red blush on her face and a panicked look on her face.

"What was that fo-" Sora began but was cut off by the very embarrassed Kairi that stood in front of him. "How dare you touch your master like that? Do you not know the difference in class?" she snapped.

"What are you talking about? You just hugged me out of nowhere," Sora yelled back while rubbing the gash on his chest. "Shut up!" Kairi yelled before taking out her slave remote and electrocuting the very confused Sora. He yelled in pain as he felt the electricity surge through his body and his wounds opening up. He couldn't take the pain this time, due to being completely exhausted from the two fights, and lost consciousness. When Kairi saw that Sora no longer moved or yelled like usual she stopped pressing the button and stood on Sora's side.

"Wake up slave," Kairi said as she kicked Sora on the stomach. Sora's body moved slightly and seeing no other response Kairi began to panic. "Wake up," she said in a concerned voice as she kicked him again and gaining the same result from before. Seeing no response from him Kairi turned him around and to her horror found him completely unconscious and breathing slowly. "S-Sora wake up," she half yelled while taking his face on her hands. Seeing no other option Kairi began yelling for help but to no avail since they were in the outskirts of both the school and town. _What did I do? Because of me Sora' hurt, _she thought as tears welled up on her eyes, _what can I do to help him? _

"Kairi?" a voice said. Kairi turned around and was met by a brunette officer with an emotionless expression on his face. "Leon?" she asked quietly.

Leon nodded and walked towards the unconscious teen, "what happened?" he asked in the same emotionless voice. "He got on a fight with a guy named Riku," she answered while hoping that Leon could help Sora. "Riku?" he asked with a raised brow, "Riku as in the son of Sephiroth." "You know him?" Kairi asked in curiosity.

"Yeah he comes from a family of warriors, no wonder Spiky got his ass handed to him," Leon said with a chuckle. "YOU'RE WRONG!" Kairi yelled taking Leon by surprise, "he won the fight. He did his best to make sure I didn't get hurt," she let her tears loose and glared at Leon. "So don't make fun of Sora!" she yelled at her brother. Leon was taken back by seeing his sister weeping for a slave; he put a hand on his forehead and shook his head. "Please tell me that you're not attracted to this kid," he said in an angry tone.

"Of course not!" Kairi yelled with a blush on her face, "I just feel guilty because he blacked out when I electrocuted him."

"Fine I'll believe you for now. Let's take Spiky to your room, I'll fix him up there," Leon said while picking Sora up, Kairi quickly nodded and followed Leon towards the school. _I can't possibly be in love with him, right? _she thought as they continued to walk towards the school.

**Ch. 6 End**

**Well here you guys go, I hoped you liked this chapter and I hope you review. I just noticed that I'm making my chapters longer than before, so this should be an average sized chapter from now on. I'll be able to update soon (for real this time) so make sure to check on the story whenever you can. Again, thanks for all the reviews; I can't believe how many I've gotten.**


	7. Plans on the Making

**Well here's a quick update to award all the reviews I've gotten. Thank you guys for your support and without further ado, here's the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts**

**Kingdom Hearts: Slave of Love**

**Ch. 7 Plans on the Making**

An unconscious Sora laid on Kairi's bed with many bandages around his body; he was sweating slightly but appeared to be in better shape than before. Kairi sat on a chair next to the bed with a guilty look on her face; she had been blaming herself for Sora's injuries even though her brother had told her that he would have fainted even if he hadn't been electrocuted. Leon had worked on Sora's wounds a few hours later and found that the wound on his chest had had a bigger impact than expected. The impact from the stone had made an internal wound near his lungs but it wasn't anything simple magic couldn't cure. While working on Sora's wounds, Leon noticed that he had several old scars throughout his upper body and a particularly large one on his right bicep. Leon didn't want to know how he had gotten that scar nor did he care for that matter, but it surprised him that he had survived such a wound. When finished with Sora's wounds Leon told Kairi to give him some pain relievers when he woke up and to not let him stress or do any hard work.

Kairi sighed as she watched Sora sleep; Leon's words had really gotten to her, _'please tell me that you're not attracted to this kid.' _Kairi wondered that herself, she didn't know why she had felt crushed when she saw Sora unconscious on the ground, she told herself that it was because he belonged to her but she didn't know anymore. To think of a slave and a Special being together was like thinking that light and darkness could become one. Nobody would approve of this and she would be the embarrassment of the town, but something deep down told her not to care what people thought and just try and be happy.

Kairi sighed and ran a hand through Sora's hair, making him smile slightly and mumble happily. Kairi giggled at how cute he looked and couldn't help but blush at the way she was acting. She didn't know why she was acting like this but she liked the feeling of Sora's hair and she felt like if something happened to him she wouldn't be herself anymore. Tears welled up on her eyes when she thought of something happening to Sora, she wouldn't blame him if he hated her but she figured that she didn't care of what he thought of her as long as he was okay.

"Wake up soon," Kairi said quietly as she put a hand on Sora's cheek, "I'll be waiting here."

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Roxas walked on the old crowded streets of Hollow Bastion with a blank look on his face. The sun was setting and the streets and sky were given an orange glow that made the town look beautiful. Roxas couldn't care less about the scenery and continued to walk with his hands on his pockets though the streets. Today was the day that Roxas was going to start the plan that would rescue Sora, though Roxas felt heartbroken due to what Larxene had done to him, he still planned on rescuing Sora no matter how he felt. Roxas glanced up when he saw an old abandoned building a couple of steps away, for the first time since Sora left, Roxas smiled. It wasn't a 'toothpaste commercial' smile, but at least it was something. He then entered the building, while hoping a fence and ducking away from the 'caution' tape, and was met by four people; consisting of three guys and one girl.

"Finally," said one of the guys. He had semi-long black hair, brown eyes and light skin; he looked about nineteen and wore a black jacket, black jeans and boots, and a white undershirt. He was known as Terra, one of Sora's and Roxas' long time friends, Roxas had told him about Sora being capture and without another word he had agreed to help.

"Sorry it took long Terra. But you know how crowded the streets are at this hour," Roxas said with a grin. "Well it doesn't matter. Do you know how hot this place is? I don't know why you guys didn't choose a place with an AC but you should know that I can't handle this kind of weather. I know we're trying to save Sora and all, but you guys really picked the wrong guy for this one," said a brunette with green eyes and tanned skin. He had a brown V-vest over a long sleeve white shirt, tanned slacks and black and red tennis shoes. This eighteen year old is none other than Demyx, an old friend Sora and Roxas had gotten when they had the ridiculous idea to form a band. He was harder to convince than Terra but in the end it took ten pounds of manga to convince the guy.

"Well every group needs a comic relief, right?" asked a blond sixteen year old with green cargo pants and a brown zipped up jacket. This teen is Hayner, an old friend of Roxas and although he hadn't meant Sora more than once, he was always up to an adventure and so he agreed to go save him.

"And of course his stealth abilities," Roxas said with a nod. "You guys are idiots," said a blunnette with a pair of glasses adorning her face. She wore a light blue shirt under a navy blue vest, a black mini skirt with a brown belt and navy blue heels. This was Aqua, one of Sora's oldest friends. Next to Roxas, Aqua was his closest friend since she had helped him live on the streets at a young age.

"Come on Aqua, no need for insults," Demyx said with his hands raised defensibly. "Yeah Aqua, why do you always have to be so uptight?" Hayner asked with a confused look on his face. Hayner's question was not answered since he received a book to the face (courtesy of Aqua) that sent him to the ground.

"Enough of this, we didn't come to screw around. We came to find a way to save Sora, so everyone shut up unless you have an idea," Terra said in a commanding voice that made everyone quiet down and sit on the concrete floor. "Well first we need to find a way into Radiant Garden," Roxas said with his arms crossed, "it should be easy since last time we entered through the sewers."

"We shouldn't use that place," Terra said while shaking his head, "since you entered through there once, they'll have that place patrolled." Roxas groaned and laid on the floor, he knew that Terra was right but finding another way to enter Radiant Garden was an impossible task.

"I got it," Aqua said with a smirk. Everyone eyed the blunnette with curiosity, urging her to explain herself. "In one month is the annual Radiant Garden Festival, which means that there won't be as much patrol as usual," she said making everyone nod approvingly.

"That way we'll be able to enter through the sewers, like Roxas said, without making a big fuzz," Terra said with a smirk. "Anybody sees anything wrong with this?" he asked the group of teens. Receiving no answer, Terra stood up and faced the group, "then it's settled we will get Sora back in a month." Demyx cheered loudly while doing a backflip with his eyes closed but when he opened them nobody was left in the room. "Why do they always do this to me?" he whined before exiting the building.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Inside one of the girl's dormitory rooms, Namine sat on her bed with a notebook on one hand and a pencil on the other. In front of her sat Olette on a wooden chair, she appeared to be nervous and highly embarrassed; while Namine had a bright smile and a mischievous spark on her eyes. After finishing her homework, Namine decided that it was time to come up with a foolproof plan to get Sora and Olette together. Olette had refused at first but due to Namine's constant nagging she gave in.

"Okay Olette tell me what your lover is like," Namine asked with a smile. Olette blushed a crimson red and lowered her face, "He's not my lover, he's name is Sora," she said in a quiet voice. "Fine," Namine said with a wave of her hand, "tell me what Sora is like."

"Sora is….he's a nice guy," Olette managed to say after a few seconds. "That doesn't give me much to work on, tell me more," Namine said with a sweatdrop.

"Okay, Sora is a brave guy that protects those in need," Olette said with a dreamy expression on her face. Namine smiled at her friend and began to write on her notebook, "Anything else about him?" she asked with a smile.

"He told me that he used to live in Hollow Bastion. I think that's it?" Olette said. Namine nodded and began to write on her notebook once again, Olette was clueless as to what Namine was writing but got the feeling that it was highly humiliating.

"Done," Namine said after a few minutes of writing. She lifted her notebook to show a drawing of Olette on the ground with a spiky-haired superhero standing in front of her, fending off a bunch of monsters.

"What is this?" Olette asked with a sweatdrop. "This is plan number one," Namine answered with excitement on her voice, "in this plan you will be a damsel in distress running away from some low powered monsters I'll summon with some magic. You are going to run around until Sora finally comes and saves you from the monsters, then he will confess his love to you before kissing you and falling with you to the ground. Then he'll start kissing your neck and on the heat of things you'll both take off your clothes and…."

"STOP!" Olette yelled with a bright red blush on her face, "that won't happen!" Namine simply smiled and waved off the comment, "I'm sorry, I got a little carried away. But what do you think of the plan?"

"I guess its okay," Olette answered in a quiet voice with the blush still adorning her cheeks.

"Good, then the plan will be set to motion tomorrow," Namine said with a smile. "Tomorrow!" Olette asked in panic. "Yeah the sooner the better so get yourself ready," Namine said while ignoring Olette's cries of disapproval.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Leon walked around the gate of Radiant Garden, it was now dark and soon his shift would be over. It had been a slow day which is why he had gotten time to visit his sister earlier that day, he was still bothered by the attitude Kairi had shown around that slave. He hoped that she wasn't attracted to the boy because that would mean that history would repeat itself.

"Leon," said a voice from behind him. He turned around and was met by his blond haired friend, Cloud. "What's wrong? I've seen you down since you came back from your sister's," Cloud said in concern (which could only be seen by the super trained eye of Leon).

"Eh," Leon said with a shrug.

"Humh," Cloud answered.

"Humph," Leon said while shaking his head.

"Ahh," Cloud answered again.

Since they had been friends for a long time, they had learned to communicate by using grunts and hand motions; here's what they really said.

"_Nothing, it's just that my sister's in trouble again."_

"_What happened now?"_

"_I think she's attracted to her slave."_

"_Ahh"_

Leon and Cloud stood next to each other quietly, for them being quiet was nothing uncomfortable in fact they enjoyed it when it was quiet, but Cloud broke the blissful silence.

"It's not uncommon," he said while looking into the distance. "What it?" Leon asked with a raised brow. "Falling in love with your slave," Cloud answered, making Leon look taken back.

"Have you seen this happen before?" Leon asked in astonishment. "There are several stories about this; some are even thought to be legends. But can I tell you something?" Cloud asked in a serious tone. Leon nodded slowly, he knew that whatever Cloud was going to tell him was important and that he should let him speak his mind.

"You know a slave called Aerith?" he asked quietly. Leon thought for a moment but remembered the slave; he had seen her walk around in the school grounds. She always looked elegant despite being a slave; she belonged to Tifa if he was not mistaken.

"Well, I'm in love with her," Cloud said quietly before walking away, leaving a stunned Leon on the gate.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Inside of Kairi's room, Sora was still unconscious on Kairi's bed with Kairi holding his hand. Of course Kairi hadn't been there all this time, since she had to do homework and shores around the room, but she stayed there as much as she could. She couldn't believe herself acting so caring towards a boy she had just met but she felt that it was right for her to feel this way. She was broken by her thoughts when she heard the teen groan and then began to stir. Kairi watched in happiness as Sora's eyes opened and his bright blue orbs stared at her own.

"Wha-" Sora began but was cut off when Kairi hugged him and began to weep. Though Sora had just woken up he did his best to comfort the crying girl and hugged her back. He felt warm for some reason he couldn't comprehend, but he liked it regardless. After a few minutes Kairi stopped crying and stared at Sora's eyes, and then subconsciously both began to lean in slowly. Sora's lips began to shudder in anticipation, he didn't know why he was going to kiss the girl that had been abusing him, but to be frank he didn't care; a force was pushing him against Kairi and he didn't dare go against it. Both went closer and could feel each other's breath on their lips, Sora's heart went crazy and he could've swore that he heard Kairi's heartbeat going crazy too. At this point Sora could feel Kairi's lips on his even though they hadn't touch, _just one more push_, both teens thought but suddenly a large WHAM was heard from outside the door. Making both jump back and blush heavily, _dammit, _both cursed their luck and couldn't believe how close they were to locking lips. Kairi cursed under her breath and opened the door only to see another student picking up a pile of books that she apparently dropped.

"Wh-what happened?" Sora asked with a blush on his face. Kairi closed the door and sat on the chair she had stayed on for most of the day. "Well you fainted and we took you to my room," Kairi said in a quiet voice. Sora nodded in response and found himself unable to look into Kairi's eyes; he didn't know why he had tried to kiss her since it only made things awkward between them. Both teens were blushing and couldn't start a conversation, they tried many times but the other would answer with a quick question while cursing themselves for not making conversation.

"Um, do you have school tomorrow?" Sora asked quietly. "Yeah I do," Kairi answered. Both stayed quiet for a moment before Sora spoke up, "do you want me to get off your bed?"

"No it's okay, your hurt and you shouldn't strain yourself," Kairi said in concern. "But, where will you sleep?" Sora asked feeling a little guilt for taking Kairi's bed.

"Don't worry about me, I'll just sleep here," Kairi said while pointing at the wooden chair she was sitting at. "I'm not letting you sleep there, you can have the bed and I'll sleep there," Sora said with a stern expression.

"No I'm sleeping here," she said with a caring tone.

"I'm sleeping on the chair," Sora said with an annoyed smile.

"I'm sleeping here and that's that!" Kairi snapped. "I'm the slave so I should sleep on the chair!" Sora yelled back.

"Fine sleep on the chair," Kairi said while trying to push Sora off the bed. "What? No way I'm sleeping on the bed," Sora said with an angry look on his face. "Okay then, we'll sleep together!" Kairi yelled. "Fine!" Sora yelled while moving to the corner of the bed in order to give Kairi some room. Kairi got into the bed with an angry expression and faced away from Sora, and after a few minutes both realized what they had agreed on. They both blushed and tried to make as little sound as possible, they're short temper had led them to make things more awkward. But when they felt their eyelids grow heavy, both figured that they didn't care anymore and soon after fell asleep.

**Ch. 7 End**

**Well hope you liked the chapter and don't forget to review!**


	8. Trip to Lake Radiant

**Hey guys, this is the new chapter to my story. I hope I didn't take too long to update since I'm writing whenever I can. Thanks for the reviews guys they really keep my spirits up. This chapter will circle around Sora and Kairi so be happy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts**

**Kingdom Hearts: Slave of Love**

**Ch. 8 Trip to Lake Radiant**

It was morning on Radiant Garden and the sun shone brightly from behind the many luscious purple mountains that surrounded the town. Some people were now walking on the streets, making the town start to look alive, and many shops were beginning to open their doors to customers. It was a cool morning, like most mornings in Radiant Garden, but the inhabitants of the town knew that it didn't matter how cool it was at the morning since Radiant Garden was always hot during the afternoon during this time of year.

Sora slept with a happy smile on his face, he was shirtless and a large dark bruise could be seen on his chest. He began to stir soon after since some of the sun's rays had begun to bother him; with an annoyed groan Sora closed his eyes tightly in an attempt to block the sunlight. This proved ineffective and Sora tried to roll away from the light but found that he couldn't since something was blocking him.

"What the?" Sora muttered with his eyes still closed and reached with his hand in order to know what was blocking him from escaping the sunlight. The first thing he felt was warm and soft, still confused Sora's hand moved forward and came in contact with something soft and squishy. Having enough, Sora opened his eyes and quickly wished that he hadn't been born. His eyes went wide and his breath caught on his throat, he found he couldn't do anything but gasp in fear at the situation he was in. His left hand rested on Kairi's left butt cheek and she was sound asleep with her head on his chest and her right arm around his torso. Sora stared at Kairi's face in fear and almost fainted when he saw her eyes snap open and her blue eyes stare directly at his own. Kairi's eyes widened when she felt Sora's hand and her right eye started to twitch; Sora could feel doom coming soon and knew that he should have started a will the minute he stepped foot on Kairi's room.

"What the hell are you doing!" Kairi yelled before pushing Sora off the bed and reaching for her slave remote. Sora closed his eyes in anticipation of the electricity coursing through his body but found that the feeling never came. Confused Sora opened his eyes and found Kairi holding the remote with an angry expression but with a hint of concern on her face.

Seeing that it was his opportunity Sora began to try to get Kairi in a better mood, "I'm sorry about that, it wasn't my intention. I was sleep and felt something so I reached to grab it but I noticed too late that it was your….umm….thing." He could feel his cheeks blush as Kairi stared at him quizzically; Sora knew how stubborn and hot-headed this girl was so he was surprised to see her think things through.

"Fine, I'll believe you this time. But don't ever thing about sleeping in my bed again," she said in a low threatening voice. Without any other word Kairi left for the bathroom and left a dumbfounded Sora on the floor.

"What happened to her?" Sora asked himself with a frown. In the short amount of time he had known her, he knew that she didn't care about hurting him. _So why the sudden change? _Sora asked himself. He didn't believe in people changing since he had matured at a young age, he believed that after the first impression it was impossible for someone to change; yes there were still things to discover about said person, but the attitude wouldn't change. Sora was now questioning his own beliefs, but he didn't know if Kairi's attitude towards him had changed or if it was just an act. "Well it's not like it's a bad thing," he muttered to himself with an easy going smile. He then tried to stand up but only winced at the pain radiating from his chest; he gritted his teeth as he stood up and walked to the large mirror that stood next to the bathroom's door. Sora knew for a fact that Riku's attack shouldn't have had such an effect on him; Sora inspected his chest for any sign of any other kind of attack. Finding nothing, Sora looked closer in the mirror and found a small hole in the middle of his chest. "What the hell is this?" Sora said while eying the small hole. He then ran a finger over it and almost fell due to the pain; noting the pain Sora concluded that the small hole was deep, he didn't know how deep exactly but he knew that there was a possibility that it went through his chest. "What's wrong with this place?" Sora asked himself with a sigh as he sat down on the wooden chair.

"_**It was a simple magic spell, weakling," **_Sora heard a quiet but comprehendible voice, inside his head. His head shot up and he looked wildly around the room for any sign of this voice, but he knew that it couldn't be from the room since the voice was quiet and it echoed. Taking a deep breath, Sora ran a hand through his hair and chuckled slightly, "I'm going crazy here."

"If you're talking to yourself, I guess you are," said Kairi as she came out of the restroom wearing a bathrobe and a towel on her head. Sora stared at her oddly before blushing and looking away, "is it possible for you, to wear something appropriate."

"Well I was waiting for you to get out!" Kairi snapped with a blush of her own. Not wanting to have an angry Kairi, Sora limped to the outside of the room with the voice on his head out of his thoughts.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Some time later, Namine walked casually on the outside of Kairi's room with Olette following closely. This was step number one of "Namine's Foolproof Love Plan," it was agreed that they would have Olette walked outside the room and get attacked by some weak monsters that didn't pose a real threat to anyone.

"Ready," Namine whispered with a mischievous smile on her face to a really embarrassed Olette. "Are you sure about this?" Olette asked with a worried look on her face. "Of course I'm sure. I already looked into all of the details; we have you standing outside of Kairi's room about to be attacked by monsters. There's no way that Sora won't hear you, now go into your position," she said with a commanding tone.

Olette nodded slowly and walked to the outside of Kairi's room, soon Namine pulled out a wand from inside of her shirt and murmured a short chant. A light appeared from the tip of Namine's wooden wand and hit the floor, soon the light separated into three and each light began to take shape. When the light died down three small dark creatures with antennas and yellow glowing eyes stood in front of Olette; Namine signaled Olette to begin and said girl screamed loudly and threw her body against the door. Namine smiled and waited for the door to open but to her misfortune it didn't, Olette eyes Namine nervously as the small monsters started to approach her.

"Don't worry, he'll be here," Namine said with a nervous smile.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Miles away from the school, on the outskirts of Radiant Garden's main town; Sora and Kairi rode inside of a carriage on a dirt road. The sun was high in the sky and shone brightly on the green grass that surrounded the dirt road the carriage was on. There were many tall trees, one or two visible animals, and many purple mountains surrounding the road. A man with a heavy built, a big bushy black mustache and an old face rode the carriage through the Radiant Woods; he had been assigned to ride Kairi wherever she chose at any given moment but due to Kairi's forgetful mind, the man usually forgotten.

"Achooo!" Sora sneezed, causing his chest to hurt again. "Are you okay?" Kairi asked with a hint of concern. They were seated across each other with a large brown backpack next to Sora, the inside of the carriage had a cozy feel to it; it had dark red cushioned seats, purple curtains, and a good smell.

"Yeah it's just a little sneeze," Sora said with a smile that caused Kairi to blush slightly. "Well you better be quiet, I was enjoying the scenery until you decided to sneeze," Kairi said with her arms crossed. Sora laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head, a habit he had had since a young age.

"We're here," said the driver. Sora took the backpack and got out of the carriage, as soon as he got out he was taken back by the beauty of the place. They were in front of a crystal clear lake that spanned for a few miles on every side; it was surrounded by a high purple mountain and many oak trees. There seemed to be two skies due to the clearness of the lake and you could see a few deer drinking water on the other side of the lake; Sora wasn't one to use the word beautiful but that changed today. He was so caught up on the beauty of the place that he didn't notice Kairi walking ahead of him towards the lake.

"Come on slave," Kairi yelled as she continued on her way towards the lake, he wasted no time and ran after the redhead. "What are we doing here?" Sora asked when both of them stood a few feet away from the water. Kairi sighed and took the backpack from Sora's hand; she opened it and took out a glass bottle with a green liquid inside.

"We're here to cure your injuries and in order to do so we needed to come to this lake. This lake possesses magical healing powers and can cure small wounds, if you go in you'll get healed right away," before Kairi could finish her sentence Sora had already taken off his shirt and jumped inside the water. Sora yelled from the cold but didn't get out, instead he submerged his head in order to get used to the water.

Sora felt a cold wind go through the small hole on his chest, it was a little painful at first but soon the sensation wore off and his chest became normal. "Wow, it really works," Sora exclaimed with a happy smile before swimming around the lake like an exited child. Kairi smiled at Sora and reached into the backpack taking out a towel this time, she sat near the water's edge and called Sora over. Sora swam to next to Kairi and gave her a bright smile that made her blush.

"Now that you're healed, we need to get back," Kairi said with a commanding tone as she extended her hand to help Sora up. Sora looked at her hand with two ideas on his head, one good and one bad. Feeling lucky Sora went for the bad idea and pulled Kairi into the lake. Kairi got out of the cold water with a yelp and glared at Sora before dunking his head into the water. Sora struggled under the water and ran his finger through Kairi's armpit, making her yelp in surprise and let Sora go. He got out of the water and started to tickle Kairi's sides, she screamed in surprise and started to giggle uncontrollably.

"SORA S-STOP," Kairi yelled through giggles. Sora stopped his attack and stared at the girl oddly, "did you just call me Sora?" he asked in surprise. Kairi took no time and started to tickle Sora under his neck, this time Sora was laughing and couldn't do anything to shake the girl off.

From the carriage the man watched the two teens play on the water with a smile plastered on his face. "I've never seen Ms. Kairi this happy before," the man said with a light chuckle.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Later that afternoon the two teens rode the carriage back home. They now sat next to each other with weary expressions on their faces, Kairi because she had played a lot on the water and Sora because he had taken that weird green medicine that made him feel drowsy. Sora viewed the now orange sky with a mile on his face and felt some weight on his shoulder; he looked down and saw that Kairi had fallen asleep with her head on his shoulder. Sora smiled at the girl that had made his last few days hell but fun at the same time, he couldn't remember ever having such a sun experience in Hollow Bastion. Sora sighed sadly, thinking about Hollow Bastion always made him think of his best friend Roxas. He was probably trying to come up with a way to rescue him, but now as they reached the school Sora asked himself if he even wanted to go back.

"_**Cherish your last moments together, because when I'm in control you'll be forgotten inside me," **_said the same voice inside of Sora's head. Sora looked around the carriage frantically, this time he did hear a voice for sure. The voice was now a little louder and it started to freak Sora out.

"We're here," said the man from outside, snapping Sora out of his thoughts. Without a word Sora picked Kairi up bridal style and walked into the girl's dormitory. As Sora walked to Kairi's room he couldn't help but feel terrified at what was wrong with him. He didn't know if anybody else was able to hear it but he knew he had to do something about it. Sora then opened the door to Kairi's bedroom and closed it immediately after, if someone was after him he had to take precautions. He then put Kairi on the bed and without thinking laid down next to her, he even put a blanket on top of them. Kairi moved closer to Sora and wrapped her left arm around him with her head now on Sora's left shoulder. Sora smiled drowsily at the girl and felt his eyelids getting heavier, he knew that he had to do something about the voice before it made him crazy but somehow being with Kairi made him forget all about it. He then drifted off to sleep but not before hearing the voice whisper, _**"Soon, very soon Sora."**_

**Ch. 8 End**

**Well this is the end of chapter 8. It's still early in the story so if you guys want me to add any characters don't be afraid to do so. Sora seems tormented and at the same time happy what will happen? Well read next chapter to find out. Don't forget to review!**


	9. Awakening

**Here's the next chapter of my story, in this part there will be a one week time skip. Well now let's begin the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts**

**Ch. 9 Awakening**

A week had passed since the trip to Lake Radiant and things couldn't be any better for Sora. His relationship with Kairi had grown into a sort of friendship, she would still electrocute him from time to time but it was only on severe issues to Kairi; Sora hadn't heard from Olette for a few days and when he saw her again she had scratch marks on her face and arms but when asked she would say that she had gotten attacked by a cat, he had also seen Olette's master with similar scratches but he was sure that he didn't want to know. Though things were easier on Sora, he could still hear the ominous voice coming from his head a lot more recently than usual. The voice had a tendency to throw sarcastic remarks and laugh manically, the laugh would send shills through Sora's spine and the worse part of it was that he had figured out that nobody else could hear the voice. Sora had decided to deal with this issue on his own since telling anybody about the issue would make him look insane, the voice was frightening but it was better than being considered chronically insane.

Sora's life was going great but on Hollow Bastion things weren't so good for Roxas. He had been tuning the details of Sora's rescue with his group of friends almost daily and they had divided the plan onto stages. Everyone was sure they would save Sora easily but Roxas knew that it was easier said than done, he had been to Radiant Garden before so he knew how puzzling the sewage and streets could be to foreigners. Roxas decided that he would know what to do when the moment came and pushed those thoughts aside. As he continued his life on Hollow Bastion he couldn't avoid seeing Larxene or Axel from time to time, he never spoke to them but he could see that they would glance at him when they thought he wasn't looking. Though he wasn't as affected about Larxene's betrayal he had undergone several changes. He had started to act coldly towards his friends and begun to steal from the market more than usual, he had gotten in trouble with the police but managed to get away each time. The only thing Roxas was looking forward to saving Sora and the group had decided to attempt the rescue sooner than expected, the rescue was scheduled for five days in the future and Roxas couldn't wait to get his friend back.

As for Riku, he had been training his magic on his own training ground. He trained everyday by fighting with his slave and wouldn't stop his attacks until the slave would be badly beaten and bloody. His magic skills had improved but he had also decided to practice swordplay in order to be good at both long and short ranged attacks. He planned on getting back at Sora as soon as possible and had already formed a plan to get Kairi and Sora separated when his attack would take place. He would have a big grin on the end of each day when he would feel new power radiating inside of him, he knew that he could beat the slave now but he decided to train more in order to completely beat his opponent.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Sora and Kairi walked on the school's garden, Kairi was going to her morning classes and Sora was going to drop her off. They were sharing stories as they walked and all the people who could see them could tell that Kairi was truly enjoying herself. She had a bright smile with a small blush as she listened to Sora tell her yet another funny story about his friend Roxas and him.

"So in the end Roxas had to shower for weeks," Sora said while trying to control his own laughter. Kairi giggled at the story and Sora couldn't help but blush at the redhead, since the first time he heard her laugh he knew that all he wanted was to see the laugh everyday and prevent her from ever being sad. At this time they were standing in the front door of the school's building, there were many people walking in and slaves were sitting against the wall.

"I'll see you later," Kairi said with a smile before giving a quick hug to Sora and going inside. Sora smiled at Kairi's disappearing figure but regained his posture when he saw a few other slaves give him odd looks. He then went to sit in the wall but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder; he turned around and saw Riku behind him with a smug look on his face. Sora gasped and moved a few feet back; he didn't want to start a fight so early on the day and knew that Riku was a strong foe.

"Do you remember me slave?" Riku asked in an arrogant voice that made Sora clench his fists. "Now come with me, you don't want anyone to see you get beaten do you?" he asked while turning to walk behind the school's building. Sora knew that he would regret it but he followed him, he kept on thinking about what he was going to say to Kairi when she saw him hurt again but he knew that Riku would start a big fuzz if left unattended.

"Here we are," he said with the same arrogant voice Sora hated. The back of the school's main building was a large portion of grass that ended on the school's gate walls, there were some classroom windows but most of them were empty to Sora's fortune.

"Why are you doing this?" Sora asked with a frown. He moved to stand a couple of feet in front of Riku and gave him a glare. Riku only gave him a smirk and Sora felt his heartbeat quicken, he didn't know why but he got completely angry when looking at Riku. Sora could easily maintain control but when he saw Riku look at him as if he were nothing he lost the edge, Sora's hands started to shake and he felt something inside of him stir.

"You're a slave that beat me in a fight, I can't have that it hurts my family honor. The only way I can get the honor back is to beat you in a fight to the death," he said with an angry look on his face. That did it for Sora and before he knew it he had summoned his keyblade and launched at Riku. Riku was taken back but he skillfully dodged the blade with a quick roll to the side, he stood up and launched a fireball that made contact with Sora's stomach. Sora fell a couple of feet back but quickly stood up and dashed at Riku, he swiped with his blade vertically but Riku caught it with his hand.

"Please don't tell me this is all of your power," Riku said with a grin. Sora pushed with all of his strength but found that he couldn't get past Riku's hand, he quickly dismissed the keyblade and summoned it again on his other hand. He brought the blade down and made contact with Riku's left shoulder, making him cry in pain and jump a couple of feet back.

"Well, looks like you have some fight in you," Riku said as he clutched his left shoulder. Sora only stared at Riku with only a desire to kill, he didn't know why he felt like this and he knew it was unnatural for him to feel such hatred for anyone but he couldn't control his emotions and dashed at Riku again.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Kairi sat on her classroom with a bored expression on her face, the teacher had left the class to attend some business and the students were talking to each other about meaningless issues. It wasn't that Kairi didn't have friends she had a lot but not in the same class as hers, so on times like this she could do nothing more than sit on her desk. The classroom was a traditional one, it had a green chalkboard, a wooden desk for the teacher, and many posters. The bad thing about the classroom was that it was located on the back of the school and the windows didn't have a view of anything but the school's gate wall.

"Look they're fighting!" a guy yelled as he looked out the window. In less than a second most of the class was leaning against the windows to see the fight. Kairi sighed at the level of immaturity of the class and closed her eyes, she wouldn't have anything to do with this.

"Isn't that Riku," a guy asked in awe. "Yeah that's him, but who's the guy his fighting?" another student asked. "Well he's kinda cute," said a bubbly teen with brown hair.

"Are you kidding me, look at my hair. It is a beautiful color blond and it's as soft as clouds, how can you say a guy with ugly brown spiky hair is cute," A blond haired guy said while striking a pose.

Kairi jumped out of her seat and ran towards the window to see Sora on the ground with Riku standing in front of him. Without a second thought Kairi ran out of the room in order to keep Sora from getting hurt. She didn't know why Riku and Sora were fighting but she was going to stop them before Sora got hurt.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Riku delivered another punch to Sora's chest and made him fall on the ground again, Sora was completely dominated and Riku didn't seem very hurt. Other than his shoulder Riku hadn't been hit anyone else, which made Sora have an even grater hatred towards the teen.

"What's wrong get up!" Riku yelled as he delivered a kick to Sora's ribs. "Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up!" he yelled as he continued to kick Sora's now broken ribs. Sora was now losing consciousness and didn't feel that much pain anymore, darkness was taking over his sight but he welcomed it until he head the voice.

"_**Finally, it's time!" **_The voice yelled while laughing manically. Sora felt himself going being pushed inward and felt a strong dark force coming out, he didn't know what this was but he fought it. He knew that he couldn't hold in the darkness anymore since Riku was still kicking him and making him feel more hatred inside of him. Sora was taken over by thoughts of beating Riku, he didn't care how he just wanted Riku gone. With this thoughts Sora's world went blank and darkness took over him.

"Get up!" Riku yelled once more at the unconscious teen but to no avail. "Tch, this was a waste. I can't believe I was beaten by someone so weak," he said before turning his back on Sora and walking a few steps away.

"**Where are you going? Don't tell me you're leaving the fun?" **said Sora with a much darker and frightening voice than usual. Riku turned around and saw Sora on his hands and knees chuckling darkly. **"You're not going anywhere Riku! I can't believe that weakling Sora was having trouble with you," **said Sora while chuckling.

"What or who are you?" Riku asked with a raised brow. **"Who or what am I? What do those questions have to do with a fight? You fool!" **Sora yelled raising his head for Riku to see. Riku gasped at Sora's face, his eyeballs were black with bright yellow orbs and the skin on his upper left eye was completely black.

"I don't care what you are. You're still a slave and I will beat you," Riku yelled as he launched a fireball at Sora. As the fireball neared Sora he disappeared from sight, taking Riku by surprise, and reappeared in front of him. "**Hahahahaha," **Sora laughed manically as he brought down the keyblade and made a deep cut all through Riku's torso. Riku yelled in agony and fell on his back, he stared wide-eyed at the approaching form of Sora.

"**You're completely weak. I can't believe you call yourself strong, if Sora had tapped into his true power he would have been able to kill you. But now it is my job to make sure you're dead," **Sora said as he prepared to bring the blade down on Riku's throat. "Stop!" Sora heard from behind him and was met by Kairi. "Who are you?" Kairi yelled at Sora, she knew that Sora wasn't anything like this but didn't understand why this was happening.

"**Why are you interfering with my fight?" **he asked rhetorically as he started to approach Kairi. "**What makes you think I will listen to you? I'm not weak like Sora, I have given up any feelings inside me long ago. I don't care how important you are to him, I will kill you," **he said as he prepared to dash towards the now paralyzed Kairi. "**Hahahahaha, I'm going to make you-" **he started but was interrupted by another voice coming from his mouth, "disappear!"

His eyes widened and he felt himself losing control, "**no damn you! I was going to kill them all, you'll get more powerful!" **He started to move around wildly while holding his head in pain, he was losing and he knew it so he started to negotiate. "If it means killing Kairi, then I will never do it. I will protect Kairi from everything, even if it means losing my life," came out Sora's voice. "**NOOOOO!" **yelled the voice in agony as he lost control and Sora took over again.

"I did it," Sora said with a weary smile before falling unconscious on the ground. Kairi quickly rushed to him and tried to tend his wounds with some healing magic of her own but her magic was weak and she couldn't do much but heal small wounds.

"Are you okay!" came Leon's voice from the distance. Kairi turned around and saw Leon and several other officers running towards them, they had some paramedics with themand most of them rushed to Riku. Leon and another paramedic kneeled next to Sora and Kairi; the paramedic started to work on Sora's wounds and found many broken ribs but no other sign of danger, simple magic and a few hours of rest could cure this.

"What happened?" Leon asked with a concerned but firm voice. "I-I don't know, they were fighting over something but I don't know what," Kairi said with her eyes fixed on Sora. Leon sighed and ran a hand though his hair, he then saw light movement of Sora's hand and gasped. His hand had moved for a second but Leon felt a wave of dark aura surround Sora for a second, "_I hope it isn't what I think it is."_

"I have to leave Kairi, will you be okay?" Leon asked while standing up. Kairi simply nodded without taking her eyes of Sora and with that Leon left.

"How did this happen?" Leon asked himself as he walked away from the scene. "I guess I'll ask Cid for help," he said with a sigh as he walked towards the school's gate.

**Ch. 9 End**

**Well this was a really early update and thanks for all of the reviews. Next chapter will focus on the other characters and what they're doing. I hoped you like this chapter and don't forget to review.**


	10. Secret of the Keyblade

**Hi, thanks for the reviews guys. I never thought I would get this many, so it was a pleasant surprise. This will be one of the last chapters before the real plot starts, so I hope you like it. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts and never will.**

**Kingdom Hearts: Slave of Love**

**Ch. 10 Secret of the Keyblade**

Leon walked through the stone road that led to Radiant's Garden gate, where he was stationed. This area consisted of a large dark stone road, with a small forest visible to the left and nothing but green pasture on the right. The large gate that divided Radiant Garden from Hollow Bastion was visible and stood out on the distance. Not many people walked down this road; only officers, family of the officers, and people who would leave town would use this road but due to Radiant's Garden high standard of living, people didn't have a reason to leave the town.

As Leon walked down this path he pondered on the situation at hand, his sister's feelings for the slave were clearly growing and the slave had darkness in him. He didn't know where this darkness came from because whenever he saw the slave in the past it was never present. But today Leon had sensed darkness and not just any little 'I'm gonna cut you darkness' but pure darkness that only came from truly sadistic people. The only person Leon knew that was familiar with strong dark forces was his superior, Cid Highwind, the man had seen about everything. Once he had been able to find a serial killer by closing his eyes and concentrating. Nobody knew how he had done this but all respected the man nonetheless.

Leon broke from his train of thought and looked up to find he had arrived at the gate. His shift was over now, he had been told to go to Kairi's school when he was about to leave. Leon noticed his friend Cloud standing on the gate's large wooden door with a hardened expression with a large, well HUGE, sword hanging from his back. He knew better than to interrupt an officer while on duty so he kept on walking towards a small stone building with several guards outside. Receiving nods from the officer's guarding the small wooden door on the building; Leon entered and found the man sitting behind his desk with his wide open and a look of concentration on his face.

"Good afternoon, Captain Cid," Leon said with a small vow before sitting on the chair in front of Cid's desk. "I came here because I have a small problem and are in need of advice. I would appreciate it if you would help me, sir," he waited for an answer for a few seconds until he heard a quiet snore coming from Cid's mouth. Leon sweatdropped and hit the desk with his fist, causing Cid a rude awakening.

"What the-" Cid exclaimed, coming out of dreamland. "Leon what are you doing here, ain't your shift over?" he asked while rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with two fingers.

"My apologies for waking you up sir," Leon said with an emotionless voice.

"Cut the respect crap. I don't like that kind of talk, makes me feel important. What are you doing here?" Cid said, readjusting himself on his chair and putting an unlit cigarette on his mouth.

"I came here because there's a situation and I have some questions that only you can answer," he said with a stern expression.

"Shoot," Cid answered with his arms crossed.

"It's about this kid I met the other day. When I met him he had no trace of darkness on his heart," Leon started but was interrupted by Cid.

"No trace of darkness? That's really rare these days," he said as he lit his cigarette.

"Yes it is rare but that's not the point. He had not a trace of darkness but something weird happened today. He was unconscious when I saw him, but then his hand moved and just in that moment I sensed a terrible amount of darkness emitting from him," Leon said with a serious expression.

"That's really strange," Cid said as he rubbed his five-o'clock shadow. "No darkness could develop to that point so quickly; it would take years of horrible experiences to develop such darkness. If the kid had no darkness but now suddenly he does, then there's only one explanation."

"What is it?" Leon asked in concern.

"The kid developed an inner heartless," Cid said, while letting out some smoke.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Sora fell through a dark abyss, his eyes were closed and he had a calmed expression on his face. His eyes opened but he wasn't alarmed in fact he felt relaxed; somehow he knew that nothing would happen and he let himself enjoy the feeling of the wind against his head and the utter silence. He looked around and found himself surrounded by nothing but darkness; in the distance he saw a small light. He got closer and closer to the light until he was able to make out the shape of the light; it was a large glass stained floor. He couldn't make out the picture on it but as he neared the floor his body twisted and he landed safely on the floor. A little saddened that his relaxation was over, Sora began to walk around the floor. When he was in the center he was able to make out the picture; it was of himself standing on a shore looking at the distance. In the front of his face were pictures of the people important to him, Roxas, Demyx, Aqua, Terra, and Kairi. Standing back to back with Sora was a dark silhouette of him with bright yellow pupils. In front of the shadow's face were pictures two pictures one of Riku and the other of Seifer.

"What's this?" He asked himself.

"**I like to call it, my hit list," **said a voice behind Sora. He turned around and came face to face with a shadow version of himself. Sora took a few steps back and stared at his shadow. "**What's up with that look? Aren't you happy to see me, after all I beat that guy Riku for you,"** the shadow said with a wicked grin.

"Who are you?" Sora asked with a raised voice.

"**Who am I? Does it really matter?" **the shadow asked with a dark chuckle.

"Where are we?" Sora asked with his fists clenched.

"**We're inside your heart. You like what I've done with the place, the first time I came here this place was too bright for my tastes so I had to dim the light," **he said with a sadistic laugh.

"Why am I here?" Sora spat angrily, apparently not happy about having a dark version of himself living inside of his heart.

"**You're just unconscious at the moment. But you better get used to this place since when I take over you'll be spending all your time here," **he said with an evil grin.

"Why are you in here?" Sora asked in an angry tone.

"**I was born from your memories. Any memory where you experienced pain, suffering, hatred and weakness slowly made me. Since your weak self didn't have any darkness it was easy for me to enter because your heart didn't know how to deal with darkness. I came from the Keyblade that you were given," **at this point Sora gasped and took a few steps back.

"How did that happen?" He asked in astonishment.

"**You idiot! Did you think that you could just gain power without consequences? Every power has its price, you should remember that," **he said with a wicked smile and a maniacal laugh.

"Sora wake up, please," came a sweet voice that echoed in the distance.

"**Looks like this session's over. You're about to wake up, you should treasure this last moments of dominance since they won't last long," **with that the shadow broke into a maniacal laugh and Sora began to disappear.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

In the market of Hollow Bastion, filled with ruffians, merchants, thieves and innocent people, walked Demyx and Aqua. Demyx had an easy going smile on his face as he walked but Aqua had an irritated on her face. These two had been order to stock up on supplies that would be necessary during the rescue mission. Aqua had argued that Demyx was a complete and utter idiot that got on her nerves, but the others insisted on Demyx going with her since the others had important things to do. Roxas was out looking for any short cut on the sewers; Terra had gone to visit his contacts to see if anything was going on in Radiant Garden, and Hayner had gone off to god knows where. It wasn't that Aqua hated Demyx; it was just that he thought of him as irritating, childish, loud, annoying, idiotic, whiny, and weak. When they had first met it wasn't under the best circumstances, Demyx had walked in on her while she was changing her clothes on Terra's house. That had earned Demyx a sore cheek and many broken limbs for the next few weeks.

Aqua sighed, knowing that she had no other choice, and looked at the paper that held the materials that were needed. Rope, tape, and binoculars where the only things that were needed; she smiled lightly, happy at the thought of not spending much time with Demyx. As the two continued to walk through the market Demyx suddenly squealed and ran to a stand. With a sigh Aqua followed Demyx and her right eye twitched at what she was seeing. Demyx was staring dreamily at a blue electric guitar with the word 'sexy' written in glitter.

"Can I have it Aqua?" he asked in a child like voice. Aqua fumed and kicked Demyx on the shin, causing him to cry in pain and rub his injury. "What was that for?" he asked with small tears on his eyes.

"We were called to buy the needed stuff and we don't have time for sightseeing," she said in an angry voice as she walked away. With a small pout Demyx followed the angry Aqua.

"Seriously why are you always angry at me?" he asked her as she paid a man for a roll of large gray tape. Ignoring Demyx, Aqua continued to look for the supplies. "Come on, it can't hurt to answer," he said in a whiny voice.

"How much for this rope?" Aqua asked a merchant.

"It's two-hundred munny," the merchant said. With a nod Aqua paid the man and continued walking through the market with Demyx behind her still asking questions.

Soon after Aqua found a merchant selling a pair of old but functional binoculars at the cost of eight-hundred munny. She only had seven-hundred and fifty munny left and knew that no merchant on this town would give a discount.

"See anything you like?" said a merchant with a raspy voice. He wore a green hat and an old dirty dark green suit.

"This binoculars, would you accept seven-fifty for them?" she asked with slight hope.

"You're asking me to do something really hard," the man said. "Very well I'll sell it to you for that price, but under one condition."

"What is it?" Aqua asked thinking the worse.

"My business isn't going well you see, and I was hoping you and that young lad behind you could help attract customers," he said with a smile.

"We'll do it!" cut in Demyx with a smile.

"Good," the man said with a grin. "Now put this on," he threw two old costumes at the pair, who couldn't help but look completely disgusted. One was an old probably itchy chicken suit and the other was a very warm looking bear costume. Demyx smiled nervously at Aqua before receiving a punch on his face.

Hayner and Roxas walked through the market and couldn't help but notice a big crowd around one of the market stands. The merchant had a happy smile on his face as people bought his goods, this was really rare on Hollow Bastion and the two teens couldn't help but wonder how a merchant could sell this much when people had so little.

"Here, here, buy your awesome goods here," said a bored voice coming from a bear.

"If you buy your goods here, you'll be happy take it from me," said an angry looking blunnette from a chicken costume. She turned around and came face to face with Roxas and Hayner; they stared at each other for a couple of seconds and an odd wind passed through them.

Hayner broke into a loud laugh as he stared at the completely embarrassed Aqua and even Roxas couldn't help but laugh at the sight. Both laughed for so long that tears fell from their eyes and their sides were in terrible pain. Finally they stopped and stared at Aqua as if asking her to explain.

"We had to do this to get the binoculars," Aqua said with an embarrassed blush.

"We?" Roxas and Hayner asked. As if on cue the bear took off his head to reveal a smiling Demyx. Both teens chuckled slightly and Roxas shook his head.

"You guys are idiots," Roxas said with an amused smirk. Aqua and Demyx gave Roxas an odd look, wondering what he was talking about. "Seems you two forgot that Hayner has a lot of army equipment."

Without another word the Aqua and Demyx took off the costumes and walked to the merchant.

"We're leaving," Aqua said while giving the merchant the costumes back.

"No it's okay you can keep them, free of charge," he answered with a wink.

With a roll of her eyes, Aqua walked back to the group with her costume folded on her arms. Demyx shared a few words with the now busy merchant before rejoining the group.

"You're seriously keeping those things?" Hayner asked with a smirk.

"They might be useful for the rescue," Aqua responded with an irritated look.

"Good idea they might be useful, now let's call it a day," Roxas said before walking away from the group of teens.

"He's still feeling down?" Demyx asked no one in particular.

"Yeah but he'll get over it when we get Sora back. I'll see you guys," Aqua said before leaving for her home.

"They are always the first to leave. Don't you think those two are a little too emotionless?" Demyx asked Hayner but to his misfortune he had taken off a little after Aqua. "Why am I always left with the last word?" he asked himself as he walked away from the market.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

"How does one get rid of an inner heartless?" Leon asked in curiosity. He was talking to Cid about the issue at hand and couldn't help but fear for his sister's safety.

"You can't get rid of 'im," Cid answered while taking in more of his cigarette. "Inner heartless take over their host's body at a slow pace but the pace can quicken if the host experiences negative feelings."

"Then he's as good as dead?" Leon asked in slight disappointment, while shifting uncomfortably on his seat.

"No," he answered as he stood up and walked to the window behind his desk. He looked in the distance with a thoughtful look and felt a light headache. "They can't be destroyed or taken away but they can be suppressed."

"R-really? Is that even possible?" Leon asked in shock.

"Yes it is possible. In fact I helped an old colleague of mine suppress his," Cid said with a light yawn. "Bring the kid to the training grounds as soon as possible, I might be able to help 'im out. But this process depends highly on the person so I can't guarantee anything."

"Thank you Cid," Leon said with a small smile. "I'll bring him over by tomorrow, I'll be leaving now."

Cid turned and saw Leon walk out of the door, with a sigh he walked over to his desk and opened a drawer. He took out a gray bottle of liquor and drank a large portion in a single gulp. "I have a feeling that I'm going to be pissed off by the end of tomorrow," he said as he sat on his desk, took out some documents and began his daily routine of paperwork.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Riku laid on a hospital bed with many bandages on his torso and shoulder. He had woken up some time ago and was thinking about how the fight had turned out, he could not believe that he had been beaten, no, nearly killed by a slave. His father hadn't come to the hospital but Riku wasn't surprised in the slightest, he knew that his father didn't care about him. Riku knew that it was now impossible to get his father's approval; he had tried for almost all of his life but couldn't achieve even a thank you. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, _all because of that damned slave, _he thought bitterly. Riku couldn't help but let a few tears of frustration fall from his eyes, he felt completely useless and dishonored. He would have preferred to die in the fight but even that had been taken away from him, he wanted nothing more than to kill Sora.

Riku was so preoccupied on his thoughts that he didn't notice a bald man with a dark hood enter the room. The man stood in the shadows with his bright yellow eyes standing out.

"You wish for revenge?" the man asked in a raspy dark voice that startled Riku. Riku could feel an immense dark aura coming from the man and couldn't help but shrink on his bed. "I could give you power beyond your wildest imaginations. Are you interested?"

Riku stared at the man with a sense of fear. He didn't know who this man was or how he knew about him but he could tell that he wasn't lying when he spoke of power. Maybe this man could help him finish Sora off for good.

"I'm interested," Riku said in determination.

"Good," the man said with a slight chuckle. "This will hurt a bit," with that the man raised his old hand to Riku's forehead. A dark purple aura soon surrounded his hand and began to envelop Riku. Riku felt his body being overwhelmed by the power and his limbs started to ache from the strain, he yelled in pain and felt the dark aura overflowing on his chest. Soon after he lost consciousness with one thought running through his head.

'_What have I done?'_

**Ch. 10 End**

**Hoped you liked this chapter and please review. I'll update as soon as I can and thanks for the reviews guys, they really lighten my mood. **


	11. War on the Horizon

**Well this is the new chapter of my story. Thanks for all of the reviews, no matter how many times I repeat this it doesn't lose its meaning. I noticed I made a lot of mistakes on the last chapter and would like to apologize for it. Now here's the new chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts**

**Kingdom Hearts: Slave of Love**

**Ch. 11 War on the Horizon**

Kairi sat on a chair next to her bed with a worried expression on her face. On the bed was an unconscious bandaged up Sora with a troubled expression on his face. It was now dark outside and Kairi had stayed next to him for most of the day, though she still went to her classes she found that she couldn't focus on her work when Sora was hurt. Funny how things turned out, slaves were supposed to make it easier for their owners to focus on their work. The doctor had told her that Sora's wounds were mostly healed but he would need a little rest, she was also told that since Sora was completely exhausted he wouldn't regain consciousness for several hours. Though she sat next to him worried about his injuries she couldn't help but feel slight fear at Sora's other side. He was strong, fast, clever, and most of all psychotic; she had seen that his other side wouldn't hesitate to hurt her. She knew that the real Sora wouldn't hurt her and that he would fight for control of his body, but how long could he manage. She knew that Sora wouldn't be able to handle this thing alone and so she decided to help him in any way she could. He had said that he would give his life to protect her so in return she would give her life for him.

"Sora wake up, please," she said with a sad expression on her face. She saw his face shift in emotion and then his eyes begin to open. "Sora," she exclaimed with a smile as she hugged the teen. Sora winced at the pain but hugged back, he knew that Kairi worried about him though she would deny it quickly when asked. He thought about what his shadow had said, as he hugged the girl, and felt worried that his words were true. If his shadow really took over then it would hurt Kairi and he had promised himself that he would protect her at all costs but how could he when his own body would be the enemy.

"Are you okay?" Kairi asked with a worried look as she broke the hug. Sora nodded but kept quiet, he couldn't help but feel terrorized at what he was becoming.

"Did he hurt you?" Sora asked in a quiet voice. Kairi looked at Sora with a confused look before he went on, "my shadow, did he hurt you?"

"N-no he didn't," she said, slightly thrown off by the question.

"Good," he answered. He stayed quiet for a moment and raised his head to meet her eyes, "I think it would be safer if we stayed away from each other."

"What?" Kairi asked with fear of losing Sora. She knew that life without him wouldn't be the same, he would always make her smile and he had slowly gained a large part of her heart.

"I said, we can't be together anymore," he said with a serious expression but his eyes filled with pain and suffering.

"No, I can't leave you alone. You're hurt and besides you're required to stay with me by law," she said with tears forming on her eyes.

"Kairi, I don't want him to hurt you. If he ever takes over again he'll hurt you for sure and I would never forgive myself if that happened. You're too important to me," he said with a pleading look.

"I won't let you go through this alone. I know that you don't want him to hurt me but I don't want him to take over you. I've always been alone since I was young, people have always left me. Leon has been there for me but he can't be here all the time because of his job. My mom died about two years ago and my dad turned cold and doesn't talk to us anymore. I became cold because of my life but since you came I've felt happy. I don't know if I'll ever manage if you leave to. Please Sora, you can't leave too," she said with tears falling freely from her eyes.

"Kairi," he said quietly before pulling the girl to a hug. A tear fell from his eye as he held the crying girl; he had promised that nobody would take away her smile. "I'm sorry, I'll never leave," he said as he held the girl. As he held her he noticed a feeling that had never been there before, he felt his heart beat faster and a strange feeling on his stomach. _Am I, am I in love with her? _he thought in shock.

Kairi stopped her crying and pulled away from Sora with a small blush. She felt embarrassed that he had seen her like that but when he said that he would leave she felt as if her whole world had been shattered.

"I'm sorry that you saw me like that," she said with her head down.

"It's okay. We all need to break down once in a while," he said with a smile. Kairi smiled back and they stared at each others eyes lovingly. There was a knock on the door and both teens looked away from each other with blushes on their faces. Kairi got up to answer the door and was surprised to find Leon still wearing the police uniform.

"Is something wrong Leon?" Kairi asked in concern.

"I'm here to speak with Sora," he said in the same emotionless voice he always used.

"Me?" Sora asked in surprise as he sat up and faced Leon.

"It's about your inner heartless," he said, causing Sora to look at him oddly.

"My inner what?" Sora asked in confusion.

"The dark being that lives within you," he answered with a frown. Both teens gasped and looked at Leon in shock. They couldn't believe that he had found out when there had only been a few people that had seen Sora.

"How do you know about it?" Kairi asked in shock.

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that there is a way to cure it," Leon said making Sora look at Leon with an exited smile.

"Are you serious?" Sora asked happily.

"Yes but in order to do so, you need to come see my captain. He's the one that knows the whole process. He has already agreed to help you. I'll take you there tomorrow, so be ready," Leon said with a small smirk before leaving the two now happy teens. He didn't know how Sora did it but he had grown on him. With a chuckle Leon left for his home to get some well deserved rest.

**VvV**

Cid walked outside a large hall with a bored expression on his face, _another damned meeting, _he thought with a sigh. The hall had a large red carpet and dark blue walls, it was a gloomy place but it was the most important building in Radiant Garden. This was where the representatives of Radiant Garden would meet to discuss any issue regarding the whole town. Cid, being the captain of the police force, had to be there much to his dismay. It's not that he didn't care about his country it was just that the representatives would discuss issues that were mainly about economy and coming campaigns. Radiant Garden had a king but he was on equal power with the representatives, who were chosen by the people. Not a lot had seen the king only a few representatives had had the pleasure.

Coming across a large wooden door, Cid sighed and entered the room. Inside he found many of the representatives already seated, apparently waiting for him.

"At last the captain is here," came the voice of an elder with full gray hair, wearing a dark purple robe like all the other representatives. Cid was glad that he could wear his police uniform since he wouldn't be caught dead wearing a robe. "Now we can begin," the man continued.

"Why do you need me here?" Cid asked as he took his seat around the large circular table. This was the only piece of furniture on the meeting room. The room was large with blue stone walls and had a light brown carpet. All around the table were nametags with the name of one of the representatives, twenty in total.

"Captain Cid, I don't know if you're familiar with the current issues at hand," said an old woman with gray hair that reached a little past her shoulders. Though the representatives were made mostly of old people, each one possessed great magic and had an aura of authority that could make the biggest criminal flinch.

"What current issues? Is it about the gate?" Cid asked with a concerned expression.

"Not that, we're talking about our unstable relationship with our neighbors on the west, Traverse and Twilight town," said another member.

"I had no idea," Cid said while rubbing his chin.

"Well our relationship has gone from bad to worse and now we are at the verge of war. We have gathered here today to ask you to gather a large amount of troops and command them into battle if need be," said a member with a stern voice.

"But, controlling an army is no easy job, I'll need someone to help me," Cid said with concern on his face.

"That's why we have agreed that I will help you, old friend," said a representative with blonde hair that reached a little past his shoulders, a blonde beard and dull blue eyes. This was none other than Ansem, a man who had led troops in other times.

"When do you want me to round 'im up?" Cid asked with a sigh.

"You'll be expected to have them ready a week from today. Now with that settled this meeting is over," said Ansem with a loud voice. Everyone left their chairs and began to walk out of the large meeting room. Cid took this opportunity and walked up to Ansem, who was walking towards the door.

"Ansem," Cid said, getting his attention. "I'll need you to look for troops only for tomorrow. I would appreciate it," he said as he started to walk alongside him.

"Why do you need me to do this?" Ansem asked in slight confusion.

"I promised I would help your son with a problem, and I probably won't be able to look for troops tomorrow," Cid said with a small smile.

"Is he still bothering you," Ansem said with an amused smirk, "I'm not surprised, he takes after his mother; stubborn and hotheaded. Fine I'll look for the troops tomorrow."

"Good and don't worry your son is fine," Cid said sarcastically before leaving for the main door.

**VvV**

It was now morning and Sora waited alongside Kairi outside of the gates of school. Sora had decided to go with Leon, and Kairi had wanted to see him off. She had asked to go with him but Sora had quickly refused, saying that he didn't want her near his shadow if he got out.

"Will you be okay?" Kairi asked with a sad look on her face.

"Don't worry I'll be okay," Sora said with a reassuring smile. They heard the sound of footsteps and saw Leon walking on the distance. Sora gave Kairi a quick look before running up to Leon.

"You're up early?" Leon said with a smirk to the panting Sora that stood in front of him.

"Well I figured that the sooner I get rid of this the better," Sora said with a confident smile. Leon shook his head and started to walk away with Sora following closely behind.

_Please be okay, _Kairi thought as she saw Sora disappear in the distance.

**VvV**

On the streets of Hollow Bastion Terra ran with a worried expression on his face. Today he had found out that Radiant Garden was on the verge of war and that they would be recruiting members of an army, a perfect chance to break into said town. He smiled slightly when he saw their gathering place on the distance; it was an old shack that was near the giant gate.

"Everyone!" Terra exclaimed when he entered the shack. He was glad to find all of his friends there and thanked his good luck.

"What's wrong?" Roxas asked in confusion as he sipped from a soda can.

"I found out that they're recruiting people on Radiant Garden today. There's a war coming and so there won't be a lot of guards today," Terra said with an exited look on his face.

"Meaning?" Demyx asked with an uncaring expression on his face.

"Meaning that we'll move Sora's rescue to tonight," Roxas said with a smile. Everyone on the room understood Roxas' words and couldn't help but be exited about the mission, each for their own cause. "We're meeting here at six," he finished with a nod.

**VvV**

Leon and Sora arrived at a tall building that stood between the gate and the forest that was taken in order to get there. Leon motioned Sora to follow and they entered the large blue stone building. Seeing the inside, Sora couldn't help but let his jaw drop. It was even bigger than he thought, it was an stadium sized training ground that consisted on nothing but rocky hills and a hard brown stone floor. Sora let his eyes roam a little more and spotted a man standing on top of a rocky hill, he had his back to them and had his arms crossed.

"Cid," Leon yelled to get the attention of said men. Cid turned around and couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. Leon had had to be joking, how could some kid have an inner heartless. He had thought that he was at least Leon's age but he never imagined a skinny teenager.

"Is this him?" Cid asked with a confused expression, clearly expecting more.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora spat angrily at the man.

"This is him," Leon said with a nod. Cid eyed Sora for a few minutes before sighing and jumping down from the cliff.

"Fine I get it," he said as he shook his head, "listen up kid. What you have inside you is called an inner heartless. Not many people get them; they are only awakened when somebody with a strong heart is given a keyblade. The keyblade, true to its name, is a key that unlocks your hidden powers. But if your heart is not balanced it splits it into two and thus an inner heartless is born. Inner heartless eventually take control of their hosts unless something is done. There was nothing that could be done before but luckily for you there is something now."

"What is it?" Sora asked as he stared at Cid in awe. He couldn't believe someone could know so much, he already admired the guy more than anyone else he had ever met.

"First of all. We'll need to unlock your true powers since the keyblade tried but failed. And what better way to bring out someone's power than good 'ol fashioned training," Cid said with an amused smirk.

"What kind of training?" Sora said with a nervous smile, backing away slightly.

"Easy, we throw and you dodge. BEGAN," Cid yelled as he and Leon started to form flame orbs on their hands.

"Wait!" Sora yelled as he jumped away from the first two attacks.

**VvV**

Kairi sighed as she walked through the school's garden. It was now twelve in the morning and she had nothing to do. Her classes were over and no Sora meant no fun, not that she'll ever tell him.

"Kairi wait up!" came a voice from behind her. She turned around and came face to face with a happy Selphie. "I haven't seen you in forever. How have you been?" she asked as she and Kairi began to walk toward the girl dormitories.

"I've been great, Selphie. Well not that well but I'm okay," Kairi answered with a smile.

"Aww what's wrong?" she asked in concern.

"Just a little trouble with a close friend," Kairi said with a nervous smile.

"Well if you don't want to tell me and you're still feeling down. I guess there's only one thing we can do," Selphie said with a finger on her chin.

"What is it?" Kairi asked almost fearfully.

"SLEEPOVER," Selphie exclaimed with a happy smile.

"A sleepover?" Kairi asked herself. She thought about it for a little while and decided that she hadn't spent time around her other friends in a long time. "Okay it sounds fun," she said with a smile.

"Cool, I'll call Namine and all the others. But first we have to go shopping for anything we might need," she said excitingly.

"Fine let's go," Kairi said with a sigh, as Selphie began to drag her towards the school's gate.

**VvV**

Sora panted as he ran through the rocky floor, dodging four fireballs in the process. He had been dodging for hours and his body was at its limit, his legs wouldn't move on their own accord and his breathing had become ragged. Yet he refused to stop until he had his inner heartless dominated.

"Why are we doing this?" Leon asked as he fired another fireball. They were some hearing distance away from Sora.

"This is so he'll show us his inner heartless. In order to dominate it getting physically stronger won't help. The only way to do it is to fight it head on, on his soul," Cid explained as he fired a large fireball that made contact with Sora's face.

Sora was thrown against a rock from the impact and gasped for breath. That one second he used to inhale air cost him and he received a fireball on his chest, with no moment to recover he was hit with another on the stomach.

_Dammit, I can feel him coming out, _Sora thought as he managed to stand and jump away from the attacks. _I can't keep going anymore, I'm exhausted, _he thought as he was hit on his right shoulder. He spun in the air and fell on his back, causing pain to surge through his body.

"_**You're getting weaker,"**_said the voice of his inner heartless from inside his head, _"__**you'll soon lose dominance weakling. Don't worry I'll make sure to kill them."**_

Sora fought back the heartless but received another fireball on the face. He felt his control slipping away and heard the heartless growl as he took control of his body.

"I think we overdid it," Leon said as he and Cid watched the teen unconscious on the ground.

"Wait for it," Cid said with a smirk. Leon looked confused but felt an immense dark aura coming from Sora.

"Is that?" Leon asked with wide-eyes, receiving a nod from Cid.

A maniacal laughter filled the training ground as Sora's body stood up and faced the two. The left side of his face was completely dark, his eyes were black with dark yellow pupils and a fang had appeared on his mouth.

"**Are we finished so soon," **he said as he continued to laugh.

"LEON USE YOUR MAGIC CHAINS," Cid yelled as he began to charge up his magic. Leon nodded, closed his eyes and started to focus his mind but felt a burning sensation on his chest. He looked up to see Sora in front of him with a maniacal smile. He raised his keyblade, preparing the final blow but was suddenly thrown back a couple of feet.

"NOW," Cid yelled as steel chains materialized in front of Sora and wrapped around him. Leon quickly used his own chains and the chains dug into the ground. Causing Sora to be chained to the ground..

"**Damn you cowards. Face me like men!" **he yelled as he tried to get out of the chains.

Cid fell on his bottom with a sigh and wiped some sweat off his forehead. "That'll do it. Now it's up to Sora to regain control and dominate his heartless," Cid said with a tired expression.

"What happens if he doesn't regain control?" Leon asked in curiosity as he sat down.

"We kill him, simple as that," Cid said with a shrug. Leon stared at Cid in surprise, expecting it to be a joke but found that Cid had been dead serious. Leon looked at the trashing teen and couldn't help but feel sorry for the fate he had been given. _You better pull through, because if you don't my sister will be devastated and I'll have to kill you myself, _Leon thought with a sad smile.

**Ch. 11 End**

**Well here ends the new chapter, I hope you like it. As you can see a lot of action will be happening soon so be sure to check on this story every once in a while. I'll update as soon as possible so don't worry.**


	12. Reunion

**Sorry if you thought it took me a while to update. I've been really busy with my really early preparations for college and to make things worse my parents decided to finally undo the wreck that was their marriage. Well enough of my misfortune, here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts**

**Kingdom Hearts: Slave of Love**

**Ch. 12 Reunion**

Sora felt weightless as he fell, once again, through the abyss that was inside of his soul. He could see the light of the stained glass down below, it was the same picture but now his shadow occupied most of the space. As Sora landed on the stained glass floor, he began to walk around to look for a way out. He remembered that he had been taken over but he couldn't remember how it was that he regained control the last time. He had not been thinking then but when he felt Kairi's presence close to his, he somehow regained his senses and sealed his shadow away.

"How do I get out of here?" Sora thought with a frown.

"**My, my. How nice of you to visit," **said a voice behind Sora. He quickly turned around and came face to face with his shadow. **"Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?" **he asked with a wicked grin.

"How are you here? Aren't you supposed to be out there?" Sora spat angrily while taking a few steps back.

"**Don't worry about the outside. Those two idiot tied me up and I can't move, but don't worry about it. That body is on auto-pilot now," **he said with a chuckle.

"Auto-pilot? What are you talking about?" Sora asked as he summoned his keyblade and pointed it at his shadow.

"**Do you think you can do anything with that powerless sword?" **he said with an insane laugh. "**You can't hurt me, even if you tried. You're too weak to even inflict a scratch," **he then summoned a dark version of Sora's keyblade with a red hilt, "**this is what a true sword looks like!"**

Sora took a couple of steps back and got into battle stance before speaking, "you haven't told me what auto-pilot means!"

"**You truly are an idiot," **he said with a scowl, "**auto-pilot means that your body will only move on instinct. Instead of having to rely on thoughts it will only behave like a normal heartless. It will try to consume as many hearts as it can, like the animal it really is."**

"Then how do I stop it?" Sora asked with anger on his face.

"**There's only one way," **the shadow said as he started laughing manically. "**We fight until one of us drops. The winner takes control of the body," **with that the shadow broke into another laugh before dashing at Sora.

**VvV**

Cid and Leon sat on a large boulder with a clear view of Sora's wailing body. Right now Sora's body had undergone more changes. His hair was now completely black, most of his face was covered in darkness, his right arm had also turned completely dark and had claws instead of fingers.

"Damn, it's almost time," Cid said with a sigh, making Leon look at him both confusion and concern. Cid then stood up and took out a silver sword with a blue hilt from the sheath that was around his waist.

"What do you mean?" Leon asked in alarm, as he too stood up.

"He's about to break free," Cid said with a grim look. "We don't have to kill him when he breaks free, we only have to hold him off. But if his body is completely covered by darkness then we'll have no choice," he continued before getting into a fighting stance, "get ready Leon."

"Right," he answered as he took a large gun-shaped sword from a sheath that was hanging on his back. As the two stood in place, the chains began to break. One by one the many chains disappeared until only a few remained. With a loud roar, the heartless broke free and glared at the two.

"Let's go!" Cid yelled as he ran towards the heartless with Leon closely behind.

The heartless noticed the two approaching figures and dashed towards them. Cid and Leon avoided the attack and ran in different directions. Cid took the right and jumped towards the heartless, successfully slashing at its left arm. The heartless screeched in pain and turned to Cid but was inflicted a wound on the back by Leon. The two ran away from the heartless in different directions. Selecting its target, the heartless ran after Cid. Cid saw the heartless gaining on him and twisted his body in order to fire a fireball. The fireball made contact with the heartless' face and it roared in pain but received another fireball on its back.

"Good Leon, keep it up!" Cid yelled as he began to run away from the heartless again. Leon nodded and ran in another direction, making the heartless confused.

"**Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill. KILL!" **the heartless roared as it became enveloped in a dark red aura.

"What the hell?" Leon muttered when he saw the aura surround the heartless and block him from view.

"Impossible," Cid said with a gasp when the aura cleared. Standing there were now two heartless with half the size as the original but tremendous amount of strength. "This just got even worse," Cid said with a chuckle as he readied himself for the heartless to attack.

With a loud growl both heartless dashed at both of the officers. They're speed was greater than when they were whole but their attacks weren't as strong. Both officers began to trade blows with the heartless while a battle raged inside of Sora's soul.

**VvV**

Roxas, Terra, Aqua, Demyx and Hayner walked through the sewers that connected Hollow Bastion and Radiant Garden. Roxas led the group, Terra carried some rope, and Hayner had the binoculars hanging loosely on his neck.

"One more turn," Roxas said in a serious voice. The group nodded and followed Roxas. When they took the turn they were faced with bright daylight that made them cover their eyes. This end of the sewer was on high ground, which is why the rope was needed. With no spoken word, Terra tied the one end of the rope to the now broken metal fence that stood on the end of the sewers.

"Let's go," Terra said to the group, once he tested the rope's resistance. One by one the group climbed down the rope and landed safely on the ground. "There's no sign of anyone," he said as he looked around.

"Good, now let's keep moving. We don't have time to waste," Roxas said as he walked ahead of the group.

"Do you know where we should look?" Demyx asked, nervous at the idea of spending a lot of time on Radiant Garden.

"Considering the fact that none of us have spent a lot of time here, I guess we'll look everywhere," Aqua said with an irritated sigh.

"Coming without knowing where we are and being in danger of getting caught by the police. Awesome," Hayner said with a smirk.

"Awesome? How is this awesome? I'm actually against getting caught. Do you know what they do to beautiful people like me in prison? I don't even want to think about it," Demyx said with a look of pure horror on his face.

"Shut up! We won't get anywhere with your constant yelling," Terra said in anger. "We came here to get Sora and we all know that there are consequences. So Demyx, if you'll kindly shut the hell up. I don't think any of us will kill you," he said as he cracked his knuckles. Demyx backed away in fear and put his hands up defensibly.

"We can't stay here long," Aqua whispered to Roxas as they walked through the streets, getting odd looks from the townsfolk.

"I know. We'll have to find Sora before we draw enough attention," Roxas whispered back, while the other three argued behind them.

"Do you know where we should look?" she asked Roxas. She had known Roxas for a long time and knew for a fact that he would never charge recklessly into things, he always seemed to have a plan for any situation.

"Yeah, I was thinking that we should look in the police department first. Even if Sora's not there, we'll at least get information to where he is," he answered with a thoughtful look on his face. Aqua nodded in agreement and couldn't help but sigh at the three other teens who were arguing about something that she clearly didn't want to know about.

**VvV**

The sound of metal on metal could be heard in the dark abyss that was Sora's soul. Sora dashed towards his shadow but was met with nothing but air. His shadow appeared behind him and delivered a hard kick that sent him to the edge of the stained glass.

"**You're too weak. I can't believe you're the one who's been holding me back. You have no strength, you have no resolve," **his shadow said as he walked up to the fallen Sora.

"Why are you doing this?" Sora asked but gasped for breath when his shadow stepped on his chest.

"**Why am I doing this? What a stupid question to ask. I'm doing this to take control of you're body, why else! You make me sick, you have great power but you never use it. That's why I'll take over you're body and use that power properly," **the heartless said, adding more pressure to Sora's chest. Sora coughed up blood and gasped for breath. He felt all of his remaining strength drain from him and his eyelids getting heavier.

"D-damn," Sora whispered when he felt himself about to lose consciousness.

"**That's it, just give up. Don't worry I'll take good care of you're body and all of you're pathetic friends, specially that Kairi girl," **his heartless as he started to laugh manically.

"Kairi," Sora whispered as he felt his strength coming back. "Never, you'll never go near Kairi," he said through gritted teeth. He became enveloped by a silver aura that increased until it pushed his heartless away.

"**What the hell?" **his heartless asked in confusion. His eyes widened when he saw Sora wearing strange silver clothing and two keyblades floating in front of him.

"You'll never get near Kairi. I'll make sure of it," with that, Sora dashed towards his heartless and slashed its chest. The heartless yelled in pain and swung at Sora but missed since Sora ducked. Sora's keyblades began to attack the heartless restlessly making him completely exposed to any other attack. Sora took this opportunity and formed a fireball on his hand and fired it off, making contact with his heartless' chest. The heatless was thrown back a couple of feet and as he landed the two floating keyblades stabbed through its chest and stomach.

"**Damn you!"** the heartless yelled in agony and anger. Sora walked over to the flailing heartless and saw him begin to disappear. "**Don't be relieved just yet. You may have beaten me today but the darkness in your heart will never go away. I'll be back soon so don't thing that you killed me because as soon as your resolve weakens I'll take over again," **the heartless said with a dark laugh as he disappeared into nothingness.

"Finally," Sora said with a sigh of relieve while seeing his heartless final remains disappear. "Is this the power he was talking about," he whispered to himself as he took a good look at himself for the fist time. His clothes were a shiny silver and his normal keyblade floated in front of him and an exact replica floated beside it. "Since when do I have two keyblades?" he muttered to himself as he took both of the keyblades in hand, "oh well that's not important right now. I have to regain control of my body. It should be easy since that guy isn't here right now." He gathered his energy and began to be enveloped in a silver aura. Soon some rays of light began to fill the dark abyss and Sora began to regain control.

**VvV**

Cid and Leon stood on the training ground with exhausted looks on their faces. After the heartless had split into two, Cid and Leon had been losing the battle. The two heartless morphed back together after Cid and Leon looked tired enough. When the two morphed together the heartless had taken different shape. It now had two pitch black wings, a large black tail and two dark gray horns on its head.

"Damn. It this keeps up we'll have to kill that thing," Cid said as he ran a hand through his beard.

"W-what? Can't we give Sora more time?" Leon asked in shock. He had thought that Sora would win the internal battle but things were now looking grim.

"There's no more time. In a few minutes it will be a complete heartless. We have to kill it now before it gets its full power. If we don't kill it then we'll have to kiss our asses goodbye," Cid said with a bittersweet smile.

"But. We can't do it. He still has a chance," Leon answered in alarm.

"We have to kill it now before it's too late. Do you think that Sora would enjoy being controlled by a heartless?" Cid asked, receiving only silence from Leon, "we have to kill it. It's what Sora would have wanted."

"What about my sister? She would be devastated if we killed him. There has to be another way," Leon said with concern all over his face.

"It's an order! Now get your sword ready and fight!" he yelled as he dashed towards the heartless. As Cid ran, Leon noticed that the heartless had stopped moving and had a hand on its head.

_Could it be, _Leon thought with a small smile. "Cid wait!" he yelled as he ran towards his superior.

"What?" Cid asked in slight annoyance. Leon only smirked and pointed at the heartless. Cid faced the heartless and saw that it was enveloped in a silver aura. "What the hell?" he murmured to himself.

The heartless screeched and the silver aura completely hid it from the view of Cid and Leon. The two officers had to shield their eyes from the blinding flash that the aura emitted. When the aura was gone the two officers gasped and smiled slightly. Where the heartless used to be was now Sora with a lazy smile on his face, he had strange black clothing with a lot of zippers and big black and yellow shoes.

"I did it," Sora said with a small chuckle. Even Leon couldn't help but smile at Sora, he was completely relieved that he was okay and that his sister wouldn't have to skin him alive.

"I have to admit that I didn't think you were gonna do it," Cid said with a smirk as he approached the teen.

"You mean that you made me do this even though you expected me to fail," Sora said with a frown.

"Yeah," he answered with a smirk, making Sora pout and look away.

"You look different," Leon said with a smirk. Sora looked at his clothes for the fist time and couldn't help but be surprised.

"Did you guys? Did you dress me while I was unconscious? That's assault," Sora said in anger.

"Relax kid," Cid said with a sigh, "those clothes are supposed to appear."

"What do you mean?" Leon asked in confusion.

"That clothes represents your inner heartless. You'll still be able to hear it talk to you but the chances of it taking over are small since your inner heartless now lives in both your soul and clothes," Cid said with a serious expression.

"Can't I just throw the clothes away?" Sora asked while stretching his black vest/hoodie.

"I wouldn't do that. If you take your clothes off, your heatless will move back to your soul. Your clothes help you suppress the heartless and if you throw them away, you'll end up in this same situation in a few weeks," he answered as he put a hand on his head.

"But what will happen when these clothes don't fit me anymore?" Sora asked in slight concern.

"Don't worry. These clothes help your heart gain the strength to suppress the heartless. So in a few weeks you won't need to put the clothes on in order to suppress it," Cid answered with a smirk.

"So, I won't be able to change clothes for weeks?" Sora asked in alarm.

"That's probably the only down side to this process," Cid said with an amused smirk.

"It's not like you change much anyway," Leon said with a grin.

"Hey I do change. I was wearing something different three days ago," Sora said defensibly.

"That just proves Leon's point. Anyway we should leave now. I have a busy day," Cid said as he started to walk out of the large training room.

"Thanks Cid," Sora said with a smile, receiving a nod from Cid. "So where do we go now?" he asked Leon once Cid disappeared.

"I am going to the infirmary and then a meeting with the recruits that have been chosen. What you do is of no concern to me," Leon said before walking out of the room.

"Guess I'll go back to Kairi's," Sora said as he started to walk out of the room. When he got outside he noticed that the sky was already dark. "I wasted a whole day here?" he asked himself as he walked towards the forest that led to the school grounds, "Well at least I won't be taken over anymore."

**VvV**

Roxas and the group ran through the forest that led to the police department. They had been told where it was by an old lady that also gave a chocolate cookie to a happy Demyx.

"How much longer?" Demyx asked as he munched on the large moogle shaped cookie.

"Just a few more steps since I'm always here and know exactly where we are," Roxas said bitterly as they kept on running.

"What's wrong with you?" Terra asked with a frown. Roxas just shook his head and kept on running and soon the group could see a clearing. "We're here. Everyone keep quiet we don't want to get caught," Roxas said as he and the group stood behind some trees.

"Where do we go from here?" Hayner asked in a serious tone.

"I don't know. Those guys might not have Sora anymore so it'll probably take about five more trips here to find out where he is," Roxas said as he tried to catch his breath.

"Well I don't have anything going on so I'll come help whenever I can," Terra said with a smirk.

"Yeah and this thing is actually a lot more exiting than I thought. Count me in for the next trips," Hayner said with a smile.

"I just want to get Sora out of here. Everything here is too happy and peaceful for his tastes," Aqua said with an unreadable expression.

"I might get more cookies so I'll come back any time," Demyx said with a happy smile adorned by cookie crumbles.

"Thanks guys. It may take a long time to find Sora but I'm sure that we'll find him," Roxas said with a smile. Everyone nodded and smiled at each other, unaware of the smirking teen that stood in the clearing.

"Is it me or have you guys gotten cornier after I left?" Sora asked with a bright smile. The group turned to him and couldn't help but smile in return. Demyx was the first to tackle Sora into a hug saying something about getting the band together and cookies.

"Sora," Aqua said with a smile as she enveloped the teen in a hug.

"Hey man," Hayner greeted with a small wave.

"That's Sora for you. He picks the best timing every time," Terra said with a smirk as he threw an arm around Sora's shoulders.

"Nice to have you back," Roxas said as he shook Sora's hand and gave him a friendly hug.

"What are you guys doing here?" Sora asked with a smile, after getting reacquainted with the group.

"We're here to save you, what else?" Demyx said with a small chuckle.

"Yeah he's right. We've been planning a way to get you back since day one," Roxas said with a grin. Sora smiled at his friends but couldn't help but feel bad at the same time. He hadn't planned to see them so soon and he knew that if he was to leave he needed to see Kairi first in order to make up his mind.

"Well let's go before I throw up from the happy atmosphere this town has," Aqua said as she turned to walk towards town. The group nodded and followed the blunnette while Sora stood still with a downcast.

"What's wrong?" Roxas asked in confusion at his friend's behavior.

"I'm sorry guys but, I need to see someone first," Sora answered with a nervous smile.

"WHAT!" the group exclaimed as they surrounded Sora and bombarded him with questions.

"I have to see someone before I go since she'll affect my decision to leave," Sora said as he tried to calm the group down.

"Fine," Roxas said once he saw the determination on Sora's eyes. The group stared at him oddly before nodding hesitantly.

"Thanks guys," Sora said as he turned to walk towards the school. After taking a few steps he noticed that he was being followed by his group of friends. "What are you guys doing?" he asked the group that followed him.

"We're going with you," Demyx said with an exited smile.

"What? You can't go, they'll catch you guys," Sora said, trying to protect them.

"It'll be fine if we're with you. You're walking calmly in this place which means that they know you. I'm sure you can come up with a good excuse as to why we're with you," Aqua said with a sigh.

"She's right. Besides, I want to see where you've been all this time," Roxas said with a smile. Sora tried to reason but knew that his group of friends was more stubborn than an angry mom.

"Fine you can come with me, but you'll have to listen to what I say," Sora said with a stern expression. The group nodded in agreement and began to walk with the irritated teen.

"So were are we going?" Terra asked in an emotionless tone.

"Well we're going to the school where I've been staying," Sora answered with a nervous look on his face.

"You've been in a school? That's probably the most boring place in the world, nothing good comes out of them," Hayner said, throwing his arms up in exaggeration.

"Nothing but knowledge that will be useful for the rest of your life," Aqua said sarcastically.

"You're right Aqua. Thanks for proving my point," Hayner answered with a smile, causing the group to sweatdrop at his stupidity.

"This is going to suck," Sora murmured as they made their way through the forest.

**Ch. 12 End**

**Hope you liked this chapter and please review. It'll probably take a while for me to update but I promise that I will do it as soon as possible. Thanks for reading this and for all of the positive reviews I've been getting.**


	13. Reunion 2

**I am soooooooooo sorry that it took me over a month to update. I don't really have a good excuse for this so I'll make it up to you by bringing more chapters quickly. I've also decided to cut the story in two and make the other half the sequel, but don't worry there's a lot of chapter before this part of the story ends. Well onto the story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts**

**Kingdom Hearts: Slave of Love**

**Ch. 13 Reunion 2**

Sora and his group of friends were now walking outside of the school's gate. Sora had a worried look on his face while everyone else was irritated at Demyx's constant remarks. He had been talking about how he hated the place and everyone should just leave. Everyone had ignored him at first but after the first hour they started to yell at him to shut up.

"Okay guys. From here on, I want you guys to listen to everything I say," Sora said as the group entered the school's garden.

"Fine but don't get carried away," Roxas said with a nod.

"I'm hungry," Demyx said with a pout, clearly ignoring the conversation Sora was having with the group.

"He's right. We haven't eaten since we got here and we could use some food," Hayner said with a hand behind his neck.

"You guys are just overreacting," Aqua said with a roll of her eyes but blushed when her stomach growled in disapproval.

"Let's go find something to eat," Terra said with a calm expression on his face. The group agreed and started to walk at a random direction leaving Sora standing on the garden with a dumbfounded expression.

"Wait a minute I thought I told you to listen to what I told you?" Sora half yelled as he caught up to the group.

"And I thought I told you, not to get carried away?" Roxas said with a smirk.

"What are you talking about? This is the first thing I've asked you to do for me," Sora said with an angry expression.

"We're all hungry. You can't expect us to listen to you on empty stomachs. If you take us to the kitchen we'll listen to you," Roxas said with a smug look on his face.

"Come on Sora. I don't remember you being this irritating before," Demyx said with a shake of his head.

"Fine," Sora snapped with his eyes closed, "I'll take you to the kitchen but you have to promise to listen to what I say afterwards." The group nodded and followed the fuming Sora that led the way towards the school's main building.

"Why do they allow you to live here anyway?" Terra asked as the group walked, "I didn't think that they would allow people like us to be here, much less live here."

"Yeah his right. Why do they allow you to live here?" Aqua asked with a raised eyebrow.

_Crap, _Sora thought as he nervously scratched the back of his head. _I can't let them know that I'm here as a slave. If I do, they'll take me away before I get the chance to see Kairi, _he thought as he tried to come up with an excuse.

"Can you guys smell that?" Demyx yelled in excitement. The group gave him an odd look before their nostrils were presented to the smell of freshly cooked food.

"Let's go in," Hayner said with a smile, forgetting all about Sora's living situation.

"Ok then follow me," Sora said with fake excitement as he led them into the kitchen. The kitchen was big and like the rest of the school it had wooden floors and dark blue walls. The regularly busy kitchen now had only one maid and all of the kitchen utensils, that were usually out in the open, were now locked away in the many cabinets that stood on the kitchen's walls.

"What are you doing here?" The maid asked the group who paid attention to the pizza that she carried on a wooden plate.

"We're here because…. I was sent here?" Sora said with an embarrassed blush on his face, "that's right. Kairi sent me here to get something."

"Is that right? She just told me to get her a pizza and now she's asking for more. One of the reasons to hate sleepovers right," the maid said with a smile.

"Yeah, those girls can eat," Sora answered with a smile.

"Help yourself to the food on the fridge. I'll be going to my sleeping quarters now so please take care of them," the maid said with a weary look on her face. Sora nodded with a smile and with that the maid left the kitchen.

"Who was that?" Aqua asked with a raised brow.

"Nobody special, now let's get some food. You guys look hungry so let's not waste anytime," Sora said with a nervous laugh. The group nodded, to hungry to argue, and opened the fridge.

"It's beautiful," Demyx said as a tear rolled down his cheek.

"What do you guys want?" Sora asked but found that the group was already raiding the fridge.

"Do you have any cups?" Hayner asked as he held up a carton of milk. Sora nodded and took out some cups from one of the wooden cabinets. Hayner poured milk for everyone, including Sora, and the feast began.

"If you can't beat them join them," Sora said to himself with a smile. With that he swallowed the milk in one gulp and took a chicken leg that had been winking at him for some time. Too busy eating; the group didn't realize that the milk was two months past its expiration date.

**VvV**

Kairi sat on her room (now full of girls) with a worried expression on her face. She couldn't stop thinking about how Sora was doing and had to admit that she was very worried that he wouldn't come back. The sleepover had helped to take her mind off Sora at first but she ended up thinking about him when they started to watch a horror movie about a guy getting possessed. _How are you doing Sora?_ Kairi thought to herself with a sigh.

The rest of the girls weren't as gloomy as Kairi, in fact they were cheerful and happy. Namine was happily chatting with Olette about some weird plan that Kairi didn't read much into. Yuna, one of the few friends that Kairi had in the school, was talking and giggling with Selphie. They all wore simple pjs and sat under their respective sleeping bags. The only other girl that was quiet was Xion, but that wasn't a surprise since she barely spoke at all.

"What's wrong Kairi?" Selphie asked hearing the sigh that came from Kairi.

"Nothing's wrong I'm fine," Kairi answered with a fake smile.

"Maybe she's bored and wants us out of here," Yuna concluded. "Cause if that's the case then you better suck it up since you invited us."

"No it's not that," Kairi said with a nervous smile. "I'm just a little tired."

"If you're tired then it means that we have to play a game," Namine said with a smile.

"How did you figure that?" Kairi muttered to herself with a sweatdrop.

"What game?" Selphie yelled while bouncing a few inches, a hard feat if your sitting down.

"Truth or dare!" Namine exclaimed with a smile. Everyone in the room nodded except the quiet Xion and the worried redhead.

"We don't even have a bottle," Kairi said with a hopeful expression.

"No worries," Selphie said as she took out a bottle from her sleeve.

"How the-?" Kairi gasped out with wide eyes. "How did you do that?"

"Okay who spins first?" Olette asked with a bright smile.

"I will since it's my own personal bottle," Selphie answered with a smile. The girls sat on a circle and watched as Selphie spun the bottle. The bottle landed on the shy Olette who looked completely scared. "Well well well. Who do we have here," Selphie said with a sly grin. "Truth or dare."

"Umm, dare," Olette answered with a small blush.

"Okay then, I dare you to wear your own panties on your head until the game is over," Selphie said with a smile. Olette blushed ten shades of red and went inside the bathroom. She came out with a bright blush and her underwear on her head, causing everyone in the room to laugh hysterically.

"Your turn," Namine said with a giggle. Olette took the bottle in hand and spun it. This time it landed on Yuna. Yuna didn't look nervous at all since she knew that Olette was too innocent to think of anything bad.

"Umm, truth or dare," Olette asked.

"Truth," Yuna answered with a smile.

"Okay then. Umm, do you like anyone," Olette asked.

"Well I thought I did but there's nobody I like right now," Yuna said with a small smile. She then took the bottle in hand and spun it mercilessly. It landed on the unsuspecting Namine who got a look of pure terror on her face. Yuna was known to be one of the sharpest minds in the school and could manage to humiliate people when needed.

"Truth or dare," Yuna asked in a singsong voice.

"Dare," Namine squeaked out.

"Okay then, I dare you to dress yourself as a boy for the next two days," Yuna said with a grin.

"But how will I do that, it's not like we have any boy clothes at hand," Namine said with a small glimmer of hope.

"Don't worry about that Nams. Sora keeps his clothes here so it shouldn't be a problem getting clothes," Kairi said with a grin.

"But he'll get mad," Namine said with a nervous laugh.

"Don't worry about that. He rarely changes clothes so he wouldn't know if it was his clothes," Kairi answered with a smile. Namine sighed in defeat and took some clothes to the bathroom. She came out wearing a baseball cap with her hair in a bun, a simple red t-shirt and a black pair of jeans.

"Wow you kinda look like a guy," Selphie said with raised brows. Namine didn't answer and took the bottle in hand and spun it with all her might. The bottle landed on the quiet Xion who didn't look phased at all.

"Okay Xion, truth or dare?" Namine asked with a grin.

"Truth," Xion answered.

"Why do you barely talk?" Namine asked with a smile.

"Because I don't like to talk," Xion answered simply and took the bottle in hand, ignoring the pouting Namine. She spun the bottle and it landed on the redhead with a faraway look. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare," Kairi said with a smile.

"I dare you to sniff your slave's most recent shirt," Xion said simply with the slightest hint of a smile on her face.

"WHAT!" Kairi exclaimed with a bright red blush on her face.

"You heard her, I saw a shirt in the bathroom floor so I guess he left it there," Namine said with smile.

"I guess she's still mad at me," Kairi muttered to herself.

"You have to do it Kairi or you'll break the sacred rules of truth or dare," Selphie said with a nod of her head.

"Fine," Kairi said as she walked to the bathroom, _I'll get them all back for this_.

**VvV**

Sora and the group walked through the hallways of the girl's dormitory with a pain on their stomach. As they reached the door to Kairi's room they all heard a loud grumbling sound coming from a blushing Aqua.

"It wasn't me," Aqua said with a blush.

"She probably farted," Demyx said with a smile that disappeared when Aqua whapped him on the head. "Ouch what was that for?"

"You had it coming Demyx, you already know how women get?" Terra said with a smirk.

"How do we get Terra?" Aqua asked with a glare that would make a gravedigger dig his own grave.

"Umm…I…well. Just never mind what I said," Terra said with a look of pure terror on his face as he sped his face and walked next to Sora.

"Quiet down guys, we're here," Sora said, making the group turn their attention on him. "Now I want to set some rules. First do not and I repeat do not talk until I introduce you guys. Second, no matter what happens don't tell her anything about you guys sneaking in here. And last but not least, do not get her angry because if you do then you're on your own."

"How bad can one girl be," Roxas said with a sigh.

_You don't know how wrong you are,_ Sora thought as he subconsciously fingered his bracelet. With a sigh Sora opened the door and stood glued on the spot at what he saw. Olette had a pair of panties on her head, some blonde guy was sitting in a pink sleeping bag, and the most shocking thing was that Kairi was sniffing his old shirt.

"Girls here are crazy," Demyx said with a whistle.

Hearing the voice the girls looked at the door and were glued in the spot. Kairi got a bright blush on her face and threw the shirt as far away as she could.

"Geez Kairi I wasn't gone that long," Sora said with a smirk.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Kairi asked pointing an accusing finger at Sora.

"Umm I kinda live here," Sora said with a confused look. "Are you guys having a sleepover or something?"

"Yeah we are," Olette answered with a smile, unaware that the underwear was still on her head. She looked at the group of friends and noticed a blond with cargo shorts pointing at his head. With a confused look she touched her own head and gasped in horror when she noticed that she still had the underwear in her head. She put the underwear in her pocked in less than a second and turned her gaze to the very interesting floor.

"Who are they Sora?" Namine asked pointing at the group behind Sora, but before he could speak Terra walked to the girls with a dark aura around him and gave them a glare that chilled them to the bone.

"**Bathroom," **he said in a cold voice. The girls slowly pointed at the white door and before they could register what happened Terra was gone.

"Excuse our friend please. He had some bad milk and therefore needed to use your restroom. I am known as Roxas and I'm at your service," Roxas said with a vow.

"What a douche," Sora muttered to himself with a sweatdrop.

"Are you the guy who got bit in the butt by a dog," Kairi asked with an innocent look.

"Soraaaa," Roxas growled with a look hate on his face.

"Yeah that's him," Sora said with a nervous laugh. "These are Aqua, Hayner and Demyx. The guy in the bathroom is Terra."

"Nice to meet you," Kairi said with a smile.

"Red hair and blue eyes," Aqua muttered to herself. "Are you this Kairi that Sora keeps talking about?"

"Yeah that's her," Sora said with a blush on his face. "These are Xion, Selphie and Yuna. I don't know the dude in the cap though."

"Well I hate to break the fun but it's probably midnight right now so we should go to sleep," Aqua said.

"Where's everyone going to sleep though?" asked the blonde haired guy.

"We'll sleep where Sora sleeps," Hayner answered.

"Are you all going to fit in this room?" Selphie asked with a confused look.

"Sora getting busy," Demyx said with a smile. Aqua whacked him in the head and sighed.

"Please excuse this idiot," she said with an irritated look on her face.

"Don't worry but I really don't know where you guys will sleep," Kairi said with a sad look on her face.

"They can stay in my summer house," the boy in the cap said. "Nobody ever goes there and is close to here."

"Good idea," Kairi said with a smile.

"Thanks a lot man," Roxas said with a smile as he walked over to Namine. "I'm Roxas it's good to meet you," he said with a smile that made her blush. She shook his hand and walked towards the door.

"If you guys well follow me, I'll take you there. The house has about twelve rooms so you'll be comfortable there," Namine said with a smile.

"Very good, we'll get acquainted in the morning," said the refreshed Terra.

"I guess we'll sleep in our own rooms then," Yuna said as she and Xion walked towards the door. "We'll see you tomorrow," the girls said (well just Yuna) and left the room.

"I should go too, I'll see you guys later," Selphie said with a smile before leaving the room.

"Well guys let's go," Namine said as he led the group out the door. Sora was about to go with them but was stopped by a hand on his wrist. He turned around to see a blushing Kairi holding his wrist.

"Where do you think your going?" she asked in an angry voice.

"Well I figured that you'd be more comfortable if I slept at with my friends," Sora said with a confused look.

"Don't think you'll get off the hook so easily. You're my slave and that means that we have to sleep in the same room every day until you're free. So you have to stay here," Kairi said, trying her best to look angry.

"Okay fine," Sora said with a sigh. "Just let me lock the door," he walked to the door and as soon as he locked it Kairi ran to him and hugged him as if her life depended on it.

"I was worried about you," Kairi whispered into Sora's chest. Sora got over his shock and hugged the redhead back; enjoying the warmth that Kairi brought him.

"I told you that I wouldn't leave you that easily. I'm pretty much stuck with you from now on," Sora said playfully. Kairi smiled into his shirt and closed her eyes, silently drifting off to sleep. "I'll take you to bed," he said with a smile.

"Don't let go Sora, stay with me tonight," Kairi said softly. Sora smiled softly and laid on the bed with Kairi using his chest as a pillow. "Good night Sora," she whispered before falling asleep.

"Good night Kairi," Sora said as he drifted off to sleep.

**Ch. 13 End**

**Well here you guys go. This chapter was very fun to write and I made it a little fluffy at the end. Don't worry me taking forever again, I'll make sure to update as fast as I can. I've decided to put a little filler before I get back to the main story again, but don't worry it won't be a different timeline or anything it will happen in the time I planned to do a time skip. I want to thank everyone for reviewing and putting this story as their favorite, you don't know how much I appreciate it. I hope you liked this chapter and please continue reading.**


	14. Trip to Kairi's Villa

**I feel that this is the quickest I've updated in a while and don't worry, it will be so for a few weeks. This marks the beginning of the time I wanted to skip or as I like to call it 'the hopefully good filler.' I figured that I might as well make this story as long as possible so it will take a while for it to be over. I won't take your time anymore so here's the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts**

**Kingdom Hearts: Slave of Love**

**Ch. 14 Trip to Kairi's Villa**

The sun rose in Radiant Garden and as always the sunlight and as always some rays of light found their way to Sora's eyes. The teen began to stir and curse the sun but opened his eyes when he noticed that he was alone at the bed. With a quiet curse Sora sat up and looked around the room for his red haired roommate.

"Where is she?" Sora asked himself with a yawn. He ran a hand through his hair and heard the bathroom's door open. As soon as the door opened Sora was met with a Kairi clothed in a light blue t-shirt and brown shorts. "What's up with the clothes? Don't you have school today?"

"Good morning to you too Sora," Kairi said with a smile. "We don't have school for the next week so I thought that we might go to the beach," she said while taking a pair of brown flip flops from the room's closet.

"You want to go to the beach?" Sora asked with another yawn. "Well then have a safe trip," he turned on his side and closed his eyes, trying to look for a few more minutes of sleep.

"Wake up!" Kairi exclaimed as she threw a flip flop at Sora's head.

"What the hell!" Sora yelled as he climbed out of bed and glared at Kairi.

"I'm not going alone you're coming with me so go take a shower and pick some beach clothes," she said with a commanding tone.

"Sorry Kairi but I can't change my clothes," Sora said with a smirk (happy to win an argument for once).

"Why not? If you don't you'll end up stinking the whole place," she said with a frown.

"Sorry but these clothes help me with my inner heartless so if you don't want him running around you'll better suck it up," he said with a smirk.

"Does this mean you can't shower either?" she asked with a panicked expression.

"I can take off this clothes for a little bit but it their off for more than an hour all that training I did with your brother will be in vain," he explained with a calm expression.

"Fine but you still have to take a shower," she retorted with a pout (clearly not happy to lose an argument).

"Okay quit your whining I'll go take a shower," Sora said before walking into the bathroom. _Yes! I finally won an argument. If my math is right this will make the score one to twenty-seven, _he thought with a smile.

**VvV**

Selphie, Xion, Namine (much to her misfortune forced to dress like a boy), Olette, Roxas, Demyx and Hayner stood outside the school's gate. All the guys had a backpack on their backs and two large suitcases on their feet.

"What's taking Kairi so long?" Selphie asked no one in particular.

"Well knowing Sora he's probably still half-asleep," Roxas answered with a light chuckle.

"Are you serious?" Namine asked with a light gasp.

"Yeah he's always been kind of lazy," Demyx said with a snicker. "I remember one time it took three people to wake him up."

"Is he a heavy sleeper?" Selphie asked in curiosity.

"No, we just slipped something on his soda one time to see what would happen," Demyx said with an exited smile.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Hayner asked with a confused expression on his face.

"Well I'm not really sure. I just remembered it while I was watching the clouds," Demyx answered with a smile. Everyone took a step away from the weird teen and saw two figures on the distance.

"Finally," Selphie said with a sigh.

"Hey guys," Kairi greeted with a smile. "Hope we weren't too late but Sora took about an hour to shower," she said glaring at said teen.

"Cut me some slack. Do you see the zippers in this thing? I couldn't get out of it to save my life much less put it back on," Sora answered with a glare of his own.

"Is he okay?" Namine whispered to Roxas.

"He's always like this when he wakes up, watch this," Roxas said as he walked towards Sora and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey Sora how was your night? I had a great one because I slept in the softest bed in existence, in a cool room that barely made noise," he said in a quiet voice.

"Bed…soft?" Sora muttered as he drifted off to sleep, still standing. The group cracked up in laughter before Kairi took the sleeping teen's hand and led him to the carriage that would take them to the beach.

"I've been meaning to ask but don't you have any cars here?" Roxas asked with a confused look as he entered the carriage.

Once everyone was inside the driver motioned for the horses to start moving. The inside of the carriage was spacious and could fit all of the teens perfectly. Roxas, Namine, Olette and Hayner sat on one of the two seats while Demyx, Selphie, Kairi and a sleeping Sora sat on the other.

"We do have cars but their rarely used since they're only driven on emergencies. It's kind of an unspoken agreement between everyone in order to keep the town pollution free," Kairi said with a smile.

"I see," Roxas said with a hand on his chin. "Is that why there aren't a lot of factories here?"

"Yeah, this whole town is maintained by small but highly rewarding businesses," Kairi answered with a nod.

"Wow that's…somewhat interesting?" Demyx said with a shocked look on his face.

"So how long until we reach the beach?" Hayner asked already frustrated with traveling so slowly.

"We should be there in a couple of hours," Namine answered. "That's why we had to leave at six in the morning."

"That's too long, no wonder Terra and Aqua didn't want to come with us," Demyx said with a whine.

"I don't think they stayed because of how long it would take. They probably stayed because they know how crazy you get around large bodies of water," Roxas said.

"Aww don't be like that Roxas," Demyx said with a whine. "It's not my fault that not everyone can handle my water funk."

"It you ever do that during this trip I'll tell Aqua what really happened to her cat," Roxas said with a glare.

Demyx went wide-eyed and closed his mouth to avoid any Aqua related death. Everyone stared at Roxas as if urging him to explain but he only shook his head and chuckled lightly.

"Do you think we should wake Sora up?" Hayner asked when he was Sora's head use Kairi's shoulder as a pillow.

"It's okay he was probably really tired yesterday," Kairi said as she smiled at the sleeping teen.

"I was going to ask about that," Roxas said as he turned serious. "Yesterday I could tell that Sora was not as energetic as I remember. Knowing how he is it probably took something completely draining to get him like that. Do you know what it was?"

"He was with my brother all day yesterday," Kairi said with a sad smile.

"Wow, I thought for sure that he liked you. I never thought he swung that way," Demyx said with a shocked expression.

"What? NO!" Kairi exclaimed with a bright blush on her face. "What I meant was that he was learning how to control his inner heartless."

"An inner heartless?" Hayner asked with a sudden interest.

"Yeah but I don't know much about it. He'll be able to tell you everything when he wakes up," Kairi explained.

"Kairi," Sora muttered as he got off her shoulder and looked into her eyes. Kairi blushed at the closeness between them and everyone else in the carriage watched in amazement. "Shut the hell up already," he said before closing his eyes again.

"WHAT!" Kairi's yell was heard from outside the carriage followed by a loud slap sound and a scream of pain.

"Crazy kids," the driver muttered to himself as he continued to drive.

**VvV**

It was now four o' clock and the group walked on a rocky path that led to the villa they would be staying at. Sora had a large red mark on his cheek and several suitcases as punishment for embarrassing Kairi. Soon a house was seen in the distance; it was surrounded by palm trees and was colored a light brown.

"That's it," Kairi said pointing at the villa. Everyone looked at it in amazement and couldn't help but think that the long drive was worth it. "Let's go in," she said as she opened the door and led the group in. The inside of the house had a large living room, a slightly smaller dining room and a set of stairs that led to the bedrooms.

"Finally," Sora said with a smile as he put the suitcases on the floor and went to sit on the sofa but was stopped by the redhead.

"You have to pick your room quick or you'll be forced to sleep with someone," Kairi whispered to Sora's ear, causing shivers to go down his spine.

"It couldn't be that bad, could it?" Sora whispered back but for a second just a millisecond he pictured himself sharing a bed with Demyx. As soon as that thought came Sora ran towards anything that resembled a room as fast as he could.

"What's up with him?" Selphie asked in amazement, she had never seen anyone get to a second floor using only two steps for support.

"I told him that he should find his room since there's none enough for us and somebody will share a bed," Kairi said as she ran up the stairs.

"What's that?" Hayner asked as he pointed to the front door. As soon as the group turned he made a dash for the stairs. Soon there was nobody in the first floor and the sounds of rapid footsteps and cursing could be heard.

Everyone found a room for themselves except for two unlucky blondes. Roxas and Namine stood inside of their room looking at the single bed in terror.

"Well at least we're both guys so it shouldn't be that awkward," Namine said with a nervous smile.

"What are you talking about? That makes it much more awkward," Roxas said with a embarrassed blush.

"Okay then," Namine said as she took of her baseball cap and let her long hair loose. "Since I'm a girl it shouldn't be a problem right."

"Y-you…girl?" Roxas said with a finger pointed at Namine and the rest of his body shaking.

"Yes I'm a girl and so it should be an act of chivalry if you let me take the bed," Namine said with a smile that caused Roxas to blush.

"Are you a cross dresser?" Roxas asked with a confused look on his face.

"Of course not," Namine answered with a blush. "I just have to do this because we were playing truth or dare and they made me dress like a guy."

"Fine then, I'll sleep on the couch here," he said as he put a blanket on the room's couch.

"Good now let's go to the living room to see what everyone else want to do," Namine said before leaving the room.

"Crazy people here," Roxas muttered as he followed the blond girl.

**VvV**

Sora, Roxas, Demyx and Hayner sat on a couch watching tv, in the spacious living room. The girls had decided that the day's events would be a surprise for the guys. They had been sitting here with nothing to do for about an hour and to everyone's misfortune Demyx grew bored.

"I'm bored," Demyx said with a pout with his arms crossed. He didn't notice the three death glares headed in his direction or the dramatic change in the atmosphere.

"Hey Demyx how bout you shut the hell up," Roxas said through gritted teeth. Though he hated to admit it, he had grown bored and agreed with Demyx.

"But I'm bored, there's nothing to do except watch crappy shows," Demyx said throwing his hands up in the air.

"You guys know there's a freaking village just a few feet away right?" Sora said with a sweatdrop.

"I guess we could go there, or maybe we could go explore the wildlife here," Hayner said with a smirk.

"Nah, I rather go to the beach since it's easy to tell what gender people are," Roxas said as he stood up and stretched.

"You're still shaken up about the Namine thing?" Sora said with a smirk.

"Am I still shaken up? Of course I am, why didn't you tell me she was a girl? Do you know all the things I told her when I thought she was a guy?" Roxas said in a loud voice.

"What'd you tell her?" Hayner asked with a smirk.

"I told her how to pick up girls and how to make them do what I want," Roxas said with a sigh.

"Pssh, come on Roxas. You know those so called 'techniques' never work. If I remember correctly you've only had one girlfriend," Sora said with a chuckle.

"They do work but they're too powerful for me to use so I do a favor to mankind by not using them," Roxas said with an embarrassed blush.

"Whatever Roxas," Hayner said with a snicker. "So, are you guys still up for the beach?"

"Yeah I'll go and Demyx already left," Roxas said with a nod.

"Wait," Sora said, scanning the area. "When did he leave?"

"I don't really know. One second I'm talking to all of you and the he just wasn't there," Roxas said with a shrug.

"I swear that guy is part ninja or something," Sora muttered to himself.

"You coming Sora?" Hayner asked with an exited smile.

"No I'm not going. Knowing my luck the minute you guys leave, Kairi is going to walk through that door," Sora said as he made himself more comfortable on the couch.

"Well when you stop being whipped we'll be waiting for you on the beach," Roxas said with a smirk as he and Hayner left.

"Finally," Sora said with a smile. He took the remote and changed the channel to something he wanted to watch but could only do so in private.

"We're here!" a voice exclaimed from the now opened door. Sora panicked and for the life of him couldn't change the channel, after some more moments of struggle he managed to change it. _That was close, _he thought with a sigh or relief.

"What were you watching Sora?" Kairi said with a threatening tone.

"Umm…you know the news," Sora said with a nervous smile.

"Change the channel back," Kairi said menacingly. The other girls giggled at Sora's predicament.

"So much for their support," he muttered to himself bitterly.

"Change it back," Kairi continued with the same tone. "Don't tell me you're a closet pervert."

"W-what, of course not," Sora yelled with a blush.

"Then change the channel back," she said with a smirk.

"F-fine you win!" he snapped before sighing in defeat and changing the channel. The girls stood frozen in place and after a few seconds began to laugh their heads off. "What are you laughing at!" now a crimson red blush was on Sora's face as he cursed his luck.

"It's just…why the hell is a teenager watching cartoons," Kairi said between laughs.

"Hey, why is it so bad for me to watch them? I haven't seen this one in a long time so don't give me any crap," Sora said with his arms crossed.

"Where are the guys?" Namine asked with a light giggle.

"I told them to go to the beach," Sora said with a sigh.

"Convinced them to leave so you could watch your cartoon for three year olds, smart," Kairi said while nodding her head in approval.

"Where did you guys go anyway?" Sora asked, trying to change the conversation.

"We went downtown to collect some supplies," Olette said with a small smile.

"For what?" Sora asked with his head tilted in confusion.

"Did you see the mountain behind the villa?" Kairi asked. Sora nodded his head in agreement and motioned for her to go on. "Well we're going to hike it."

"Let me get this straight. You guys take us to a beach, buy a bunch of beach crap, and wake _me _up extra early so we could just climb a mountain," Sora asked with his right eye twitching.

"Yup," the girls chirped happily (with the exception of Xion of course).

"You girls are insane. That's the only explanation I can come up with," Sora said with his eyes closed.

"Relax Sora, we won't be in that mountain the whole trip. We're going to climb it the day after tomorrow so we'll do some stuff on the beach," Namine said with an amused smile.

"Fine then I'm off," Sora said as he walked to the door.

"Where are you going?" Kairi asked.

"To the beach," Sora said with a sigh. "If I'm going to climb a damned mountain, I might as well relax a little."

"Fine we'll see you there," Kairi answered with a nod. "Oh, and remember what I told you about eyeing other girls," she said with a glare.

"I got it," he answered as he made his way to the beach.

"I didn't know you were the jealous kind," Selphie said with a smirk.

"Shut up," Kairi said with a blush before going upstairs to change.

**VvV**

What Sora found on the beach was to say, unique. Demyx was running like an idiot on the shoreline, Hayner's head was sticking out of the sand (didn't want to ask how that happened), and Roxas was floating on the water completely unaware that he was being taken away from the beach.

"Idiot number one," Sora said as he made his way to Hayner. "What happened to you?"

"Sora is that you? Come in front of my face so I can see you," Hayner said with a desperate voice. Sora complied and crouched in front of Hayner's face. "I've never been so glad to see you. Could you please take me out of here."

"I know I'll regret this," Sora muttered to himself with a roll of his eyes. "How did this happen?"

"That idiot Roxas told me that he wanted to try something and next thing I know I'm thrown into a hole and buried," he said with a frown.

Soon Hayner was out of the hole and left for the villa. "Now onto idiot number two," Sora said to himself with a shake of his head as he made his way to Demyx.

"Hey Sora!" Demyx exclaimed happily. "Isn't water just awesome!"

"Demyx there's been a terrible accident," Sora said with a serious look on his face. K

"What's wrong man?" Demyx asked with an uneasy expression.

"I told you not to bring your favorite manga here but dammit you didn't listen," he answered through gritted teeth. He then fell on his knees and punched the sand.

"Tell me what's wrong," Demyx said with a look of panic on his face.

"I…I wasn't fast enough. I'm sorry Demyx but…but," he said, trailing off.

"But what? But what!" Demyx was on full panic mode now.

"You're manga was torn in half," he finally said as he continued to punch the sand. Without a second to lose Demyx ran to the villa as fast as his legs could carry him. Sora continued to punch the ground until he started to laugh his head off and roll on the ground.

"Okay then, now to take care of idiot number three," Sora said with a smirk as he got off the sand. He saw Roxas floating peacefully on the water and couldn't help but laugh at what he was about to do. "SHARK!" he yelled as hard as he could with his hands on either side of his mouth.

Roxas bolted from his resting position and started to swing to shore as fast as he could with a look of terror on his face.

"Faster Roxas, faster!" Sora yelled finding that controlling his laughter was the hardest thing to do.

"Where did you see it?" Roxas asked with a look of panic on his face once he was standing next to Sora.

"It was around, so do you want to hang out here a little more," Sora asked with a smile.

"Screw that I'm out of here," Roxas said as he left for the villa.

"Success, relaxation at last," Sora said with a happy smile as he laid down on the sand.

**VvV**

The day had been good to the group. After everyone was convinced that the things Sora said were not true they spent the rest of the day on the beach (though Roxas refused to go anywhere near the water). Luckily there were no other people on the beach since it was only busy during summer. Now the group was sitting on the living room, some on the couches and the less fortunate on the floor. They were watching a 'guys wont ruin our friendship because we're bffs forever' kind of movie. The guys were pretty much dead while the girls were fairly entertained (excluding Xion who was reading a book).

"That was kind of good," Kairi said once the movie was over. At the sound of the movie ending all of the guys slapped themselves away and in Sora's case, wiped a bit of drool from the corner of his mouth.

"Yeah that movie was great. I can't believe Katherine had to choose between her boyfriend and best friend," Namine said with a smile.

"That movie might have been better if it had more romance," Selphie added with a smile. Slowly the girls turned to the guys, who instantly froze since they new the dread that was coming. "What did you guys think?"

_Those words burn into my very soul. Now how do I get the hell out of this? _Sora thought as he turned to the guys. _Forgive me for what I'm about to do Roxas, _his eyes landed on the nervous looking Roxas. "What did you think about the movie Roxas?" he asked with a nervous smile. Roxas turned to Sora and gave him a glare that reminded him that wearing his favorite boxers was a bad idea.

"So did you like it?" Namine asked with a smile.

"Um…it was okay?" Roxas answered with an awkward smile.

"What was your favorite part?" Selphie asked with a happy tone, completely unaware of Roxas' inner struggle.

"The part with the…two best friends," he said while sweating bullets. Completely shocking Sora, the girls were pleased with his answer and turned to face Demyx.

"What did you think Demyx?" Selphie asked.

"It was…the best movie ever!" Demyx exclaimed happily, literally bouncing off his seat.

"Once again, you make me question your gender old friend," Sora muttered to himself with a sweatdrop.

"I can't believe that Katherine went all the way to the airport to prevent her friend from leaving," Demyx finished with a squeal that made Sora shudder.

"I guess it's time to go to bed," Sora said as he stood up and faked a yawn. He had seen the girls' heads moving in his direction and decided that he would leave before it was too late.

"Yeah it is getting late," Kairi said with a small yawn. "I'm going to bed," she left for her bedroom without a second thought.

"I'm going to sleep," Xion said flatly as she snapped her book close and left for her room.

The rest of the group left with the exception of Roxas and Namine. They had dreaded this moment since they had been chosen to stay on the same room. Roxas was at first okay with sharing a room with his new friend but now that he found out he was in fact a she made things awkward. It wasn't that he hadn't slept on the same bed with a girl before but for some reason Namine had left him breathless when she took off her cap and let her loose.

"Let's go to the room," Namine said with a light blush. Roxas nodded and followed Namine into the room. He knew that things were going to get worse when they got inside and was contemplating on sleeping on the living room.

_There's an idea, _he thought with a smirk. "Listen Namine, I'm going to sleep on the living room couch so just give me a pillow and a blanket and I'll be okay."

"Okay then, follow me," Namine agreed with a small smile. She had been nervous about sharing a room with a person she had just met but was now a little relieved that she would sleep alone. A little part of her had wanted to spend more time with Roxas but she quickly dismissed it.

**VvV**

Sora laid on his bed with a bored expression on his face. He didn't know why he couldn't go to sleep. He knew that he was tired enough but couldn't help but feel nervous about something.

_What the hell is wrong with me, _he thought as he sat up on the bed.

"**Don't you mean, what's wrong with us?" **said the voice of his heartless. Sora's eyes widened and he looked around the room. "**Take it easy fool I'm talking from inside your head. It's very roomy in here are you sure you don't want to switch places with me."**

_Shut up, I'll never do that. What do you want anyway? I'm trying to go to sleep, _Sora laid back down and closed his eyes.

"**Maybe I can help. I know! I'll count sheep for you, get ready. One…two…three…four," **Sora growled in annoyance.

_Shut up already. Do you know why I can't go to sleep, _he asked his heartless with a whine.

"**As fun as it is to torture you I might as well tell you," **his heartless said with a sigh. "**I've felt something dark since we got here and if I guess correctly it's coming from the mountain."**

_I knew it. As soon as Kairi said mountain I thought something was going to go seriously wrong, _Sora sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"**I'll be able to tell you the exact location by tomorrow so get some rest. Oh, and don't think for a second I'm doing this to help you. I'm only doing this because I know that whatever that thing is, it's probably going to come after you sooner or later and I don't want you killing us both," **his heartless spat before retreating back into it's corner of Sora's heart.

"Damn this trip just got a little complicated," Sora said with a sigh. He was broken from his thoughts when he heard a knock on his door. With a puzzled look Sora opened the door to reveal Demyx hugging a pillow with a sad look on his face.

"I had a nightmare can I sleep with you," Demyx said with a quivering lip. Sora's right eye twitched and he slammed the door on Demyx's face. With an involuntary shudder Sora made his way to bed only to stop when he heard a light knock on his door.

"Damned Demyx," Sora growled as he went back to the door. With an angry expression he opened the door to find Kairi with her head down. "Kairi?" he eyed her with a puzzled look before letting her in. "What's up?"

"Um…you see. My room isn't good enough for me so I decided to sleep here," she said with her arms crossed.

"Are you afraid to sleep alone?" he asked with a tilt of his head.

"Of course not," she said with a growl. "I just wanted this room."

"Fine just let me get my things," he said as he made to leave only to be stopped by Kairi gripping the side of his shirt.

"You're sleeping here too," she said with a blush. "It's not that I heard some weird ghost stories from the townsfolk, I'm just a little cold." Sora smiled slightly and led Kairi to bed. He found that he was a lot calmer than before and yawned.

"Good night Kairi," Sora said softly to the girl that used his shoulder as a pillow.

"Good night Sora," Kairi said with a small smile that made Sora blush.

_I'll finally be able to sleep, I'm glad Kairi's here, _he thought with a happy smile as he closed his eyes.

"Sora?" she whispered. Sora grunted in response and Kairi got off his shoulder in order to look at his face. "What did you think of the movie?"

**Ch. 14 End**

**Wow I think this is my longest chapter yet. I put a little fluffy scene with a hint of comedy at the end, I hope you liked. You got to see about the Sora and heartless relationship in this chapter and you got a hint at what will happen during the trip. Before I go I need your help guys. I'll be doing something that will need a lot of OC's that will only appear in a few chapters. I'll need to get a physical appearance and any weapon they use. The reason I'm doing this is because I don't want to use some random characters from Kingdom Hearts so I'll need some help. Well that's all and please review!**


	15. Problems Arise

**Here's the next chapter guys. I got to say that the ideas that I have for this filler are better than I thought they would be. Thanks for the reviews you guys I'm really grateful. As for the review that said that I didn't explain why Sora's friends are going to the beach if they went to rescue Sora, well they did have a discussion on this but I will have it as a flashback in later chapters. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts**

**Kingdom Hearts: Slave of Love**

**Ch. 15 Problems Arise**

Sora awoke to the sound of chirping birds. He stirred but those stupid birds wouldn't stop their chirping so he opened his eyes and yawned. He saw Kairi still asleep with a peaceful expression on her face that he couldn't help but admire. His feelings for the redhead had grown to a point where he felt that he would throw away his old life just to be with her. Sure, alone time was great but he felt that time spent with Kairi was a little better.

With a small smile Sora carefully left the bed and went to the bathroom. The bathroom upstairs was currently unavailable due to an accident that had to do with Demyx and a bag of fireworks; because of this the only working bathroom was downstairs. As he made his way downstairs he heard the sound of loud snoring coming from the living room. With a confused expression Sora entered the living room and found Roxas sleeping on a couch with a bit of drool on the corner of his mouth and half his body uncovered.

_Namine kicked you out, huh, _Sora thought with a light chuckle. He shook his head and made his way to the bathroom. As soon as he finished getting ready for the day he went into the living room and turned on the tv. Of course being morning there was nothing on so he did the only other thing that would amuse him, giving Roxas a rude awakening.

**VvV**

Kairi was not a light sleeper but when she felt the warmth of Sora's body gone she woke up. She looked around the room with a drowsy expression and not finding sign of the teen, got out of the room. As soon as her door closed she heard a loud yell and the sound of laughter. With a puzzled look she went to the living room and was met with an odd scene. Roxas was on the ground trying to get a mousetrap off his hand and Sora was rolling on the floor with laughter.

"Damn you Sora," Roxas said through gritted teeth. With a tear on his eye he pulled on the mousetrap and finally took it off. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I was bored," Sora answered with an amused grin.

"You're going to pay Sora. I'm going to get you back ten times worse," Roxas said with a creepy grin.

"Morning Kairi," Sora said with a smile. "What's got you up so early?"

"Nothing in particular," she said with a light blush. "I'm going to the restroom."

Sora watched her go and turned to the still pissed Roxas. He knew that Roxas would get him back sooner or later but he felt it was worth it. Since the day he saw Roxas he could tell that something got him down, so he was trying to get him back to normal.

"Why'd you sleep here? Weren't you going to share a room with Namine?" Sora asked with an amused grin.

"Are you crazy? I'm not going to sleep in her room. Do you know how awkward it was last night? I'm glad I decided to sleep on the couch," Roxas said.

"Well don't get too used to it. Apparently we're going to climb the mountain tomorrow," Sora said with his arms crossed.

"Why the hell would we climb a mountain when we have a beach all to ourselves?" he asked in disbelief.

"Apparently there's some kind of hot springs there that the girls want to go to," Sora said. "But you have to be careful."

"Careful with what?" Roxas asked with a frown.

"I don't really know but I have a bad feeling about that mountain," Sora said with a serious expression.

"Okay," Roxas said with a nod. The door to the bathroom suddenly opened to show Kairi wearing a white skirt with a pink t-shirt.

"What were you guys talking about? You sounded kind of serious," Kairi asked in slight worry.

"Don't worry about it Kairi. We were just talking about guy stuff," Sora said with a smile. "Do you have any food in this place?"

"Yeah we bought some food yesterday, check the fridge," Kairi said as Sora went to the kitchen. She decided to follow the teen while Roxas went to use the restroom.

"This should do," Sora said while taking out a couple of eggs.

"You can cook?" Kairi asked in shock.

"Yeah of course. I've been cooking for a long time now. Living alone does that," Sora said with a sad smile.

"Why didn't you ever tell me. You could have saved me the trouble of buying already prepared food," she asked with an annoyed expression.

"You never asked," he said as he took a frying pan and turned on the stove. He cracked the eggs and emptied the contents into the pan. "Besides I don't really think I really had the time to cook. Wait a minute, you don't even have a stove."

"True," she said with a nod as she watched Sora make the food. "What are you making?"

"I'm making some scrambled eggs but it's not enough for a lot of people. Good thing they're all asleep," he said with a smile.

"Don't jinx it Sora," she said with a smile.

**VvV**

Sure enough everyone came down at the smell of food and Sora was stuck making more food for everyone. He wouldn't call himself a great cook but for some reason everyone complimented the breakfast. They had told Sora to make them food more often but with a positive there's always a negative. In this case the negative being that Sora only knew how to make scrambled eggs.

Later in the day the group decided to hit the village to find anything interesting. At first the guys were against the idea but after being told that they didn't have a choice they ended up going. They knew that since ancient times a group of girls against a group of guys would always have the girls winning, it's common sense. The group was now walking around on a crowded street; apparently there's was some kind of festival going on that day. There were many tents and games filled with happy people. Demyx immediately tried to run like an idiot but was held by the grip of Hayner.

"Come on let me go," Demyx whined like a little kid.

"We're going to the beach remember. We can't spend all our time here," Hayner explained.

"He's right we have to buy more supplies for tomorrow," Namine said with a nod.

"Do you see any stores around here?" Roxas asked as he looked around.

"There's one," Selphie said, pointing at a lone shop that stood a little away from the commotion of the festival. The group went to the shop (much to the disappointment of Demyx). The shop was normal but the man behind the counter wasn't. He had a full head of gray hair, many scars on his face and a bushy grey mustache.

"Welcome to my humble shop," the man said with a forced smile. The group nodded at the man before going to find the required materials. Surprisingly all of the materials were found on the store.

"Let's go pay and get out of here, that man gives me the creeps," Demyx said with a scared look.

"Fine let's go," Roxas said as the group went to pay the man. After they were done paying the man eyed them suspiciously.

"You wouldn't happen to be going climbing would you?" the man asked with a frown.

"We're going to climb the mountain on this village. We heard there are some great hot springs here," Selphie said with a smile.

"Are you stupid!" the man exclaimed in what appeared to be fear.

"Finally somebody else thinks that," Sora muttered to himself.

"What are you talking about?" Roxas asked the man.

"You can't go to the mountain after what happened. You're tourists so I should fill you in," the man said as he stroked his mustache.

"Fill us in on what?" Sora asked in curiosity.

"There was a mad man living there. I'm not talking about some idiot wild man I'm talking about a mad scientist. He was a brilliant man and loved by this village due to his inventions helping the people of the village, but one day he started to experiment on humans. When the people found that out they drove him out of the village, or so they thought. Apparently he had a lab on one of the many caves of the mountain and went to live there in order to continue his experiments." The man sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "After that he started to kidnap little kids to use as experiments."

"Children?" Kairi asked in shock.

"Yes he needed children to experiment on. The villagers didn't know who was kidnapping the kids back then so they used one as bait. They stopped him before he could take the kid and took him to the local police for questioning. He told the police that the kids were most likely dead and so he was sentenced to death," the man said with a sigh.

"Good he deserved it," Hayner said with a frown.

"He did," the man said. "But the day before the execution the man managed to escape from prison. Nobody has seen the bastard since. It's been twenty years and nobody has heard anything about that man. Hell, we don't even know if he's alive but since then nobody goes to the mountain."

"It's that why there are cable cars to and from the top?" Namine asked.

"Yes and the fact that I own that business has nothing to do with my story," the man said with a smile.

"Let's go," Sora said with a frown as the group left the store.

As soon as the group left the man chuckled and went to a door behind his desk. As soon as he opened the door he was met with a woman. She had dark hair, pale skin and wore a black dress under a white robe.

"Why did you tell them that story?" the woman asked.

"Simple," the man said with a smirk. "They probably think that I was lying when I told them about the cable cars. It's better that they heard it from me rather from some villager."

"Why was this necessary?" the woman asked.

"They'll make perfect specimens," the man said with a dark smile.

**VvV**

"There's nothing better than the beach," Sora said with a smile. The group was currently heading to the beach. They had left all of the supplies on the villa before going. As they walked Sora began to wonder why he hadn't heard anything from his inner heartless. He had told him that he would tell him where the dark presence was but the heartless was apparently having trouble.

_Oh well it's not like I want to hear him or anything, _Sora thought with a smile. While the group behind him talked, Sora went ahead of the group. He smiled when the salty air and warm sunrays hit his skin, _there really is nothing better than the beach. _When he reached the sand he saw a small girl unconscious on the shore.

"What the hell?" he muttered as he ran to the girl. He kneeled next to her and found her breathing slowly. He ran back to the group and their eyes widened when they saw him carrying the unconscious girl.

"What happened?" Roxas asked in concern.

"I don't know. I just found her on the shore," Sora said with a frown.

"Let's take her back to the villa," Kairi said as the group ran to the villa.

**VvV**

Sora laid the girl on the couch and took in her appearance. She had black hair that reached a little past her shoulders, had a light tan and wore a simple white dress. The girl appeared to be around six or seven, not much to know who she was.

"What should we do?" Hayner asked the group.

"I'll heal her," Xion said as she kneeled next to the girl. She then muttered some words and the girl wan enveloped in a green light. "Minor injuries, she'll be awake soon."

The girl began to stir and finally opened her brown eyes that widened at the sight of strangers.

"It's okay," Kairi said to the girl. "We're here to help you."

"O-okay," the girl said with a shy look.

"Where are your parents?" Namine asked with a gentle voice.

"I don't know. I don't remember anything," the girl said as she started to tear up.

"Can you fix that?" Sora asked Xion who shook her head on response.

"Such injuries are beyond my capability," Xion said.

"She has a necklace check if it has a name," Olette said as she pointed at the circular pendant that hung on the girl's neck.

"May I?" Kairi asked with a small smile. The girl nodded and Kairi flipped the necklace. Not much was on the necklace except a name.

"There's only her name here," Kairi said with a frown.

"What is it? I'm sure she'll like to know," Sora said.

"Her name's Akira but there's no last name," Kairi said with a sigh.

"Well then, nice to meet you Akira. My name's Sora and I promise we'll get you back to your parents," Sora said with a smile. The girl eyed Sora in curiosity before sticking her tongue at him.

"I don't need the help of an idiot," Akira said with a pout.

"What did you say?" Sora said through gritted teeth as he approached the girl.

"Aah, he scares me," the girl said as she took hold of Kairi's arm.

"Sora don't scare her she's just a little girl," Kairi scolded. "I'm Kairi nice to meet you," she said to the girl with a smile.

"Nice to meet you too," the girl said with a sweet smile.

The group then introduced themselves and Sora noted that she acted like an angel around the rest of the group but as soon as he was left alone with her she would hit him when he wasn't looking or just ask him to do things for her and to his misfortune she would go and cry to Kairi if he didn't comply.

_The girl is smarter than she looks, _Sora thought with a frown. He was now sitting on the couch watching tv while the group had gone out to look for any information on the girl and of course they made Sora watch her since she had gone to sleep. Sometimes Sora thought that he had been some sort of serial killer on a past life since this luck was not normal. He was broken from his thoughts when he heard a yell coming from upstairs. He quickly ran to the room where Akira was staying and opened the door. He found the girl crying on her bed while shaking in fear.

"What's wrong?" Sora asked as he sat on her bed. Without a second thought Akira threw her arms over Sora and cried into his chest.

"There was a monster," the girl said through cries. Now Sora knew what was wrong. The girl had had a nightmare. He himself had been awaken by nightmares when he was younger but he didn't have anybody to comfort him since he was alone for as long as he could remember. He decided to comfort the girl even if she was a pain in the butt.

"It was just a dream don't worry you'll be fine," Sora whispered to the girl as he hugged her and rocked her back and forward. Soon she stopped crying and looked at Sora through teary eyes. "All better?" he asked with a smile.

"Yes," she said is a low voice before breaking the hug and kicking him on the stomach.

"What the hell?" Sora half-yelled.

"Just because you helped me doesn't change that I don't like you," Akira said with a pout.

"Woman, no matter what age I'll never understand them," Sora muttered before leaving the room.

**VvV**

Later that night the group had recorded their findings or the lack thereof. They had looked all around the village but couldn't find anyone who knew the girl. That only left the hot springs to check so the group had decided to take her along their trip since she was probably scared of not having any memories. They had also decided on giving Akira her own room. Kairi had volunteered to give Akira her room while she slept at Sora's. When asked about her decision she told them that she was used to sharing a room with Sora and after a glare nobody pushed further.

It was now the middle of the night and Sora laid on his bed with Kairi on his chest. He was always comfortable when Kairi did this but felt confused at the same time. He didn't know why Kairi would sleep on the same bed as him. At first he thought that she thought so little of him that she didn't mind but that thought was dismissed when he remembered all of the times she had been worried about him. With a yawn Sora dismissed those thoughts and focused on sleeping. Sleep soon overcame him but was soon awakened by a hand moving his feet.

"What the hell?" he muttered as he opened his eyes to see Akira shaking his and Kairi's feet with a shy expression on her face.

"What's wrong?" Kairi asked the girl as she rubbed her eyes.

"I um…I had a nightmare," Akira said with tears on her eyes.

"It was just a nightmare go back to your room," Sora said with a yawn.

"Sora," Kairi scolded as she hit him on the shoulder. "Would you like to sleep here with us?"

"Okay," Akira said with a smile as she laid down between Sora and Kairi. "Good night," she said as she closed her eyes and went to sleep.

"Sometimes I envy how fast kids go to sleep," Sora said to Kairi. Akira was already snoring and threw her arm around Sora.

"She's cute," Kairi said with a smile. "Good night Sora."

"Good night Kairi," Sora said with a smile as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

**Ch. 15 End**

**This is the end of my chapter I hoped you liked it. I know that this chapter is a little small compared to the others but please bear with me. Better to have quick updates instead of long chapters right? Anyway I hope you liked this chapter and please review.**


	16. Quick! To the Mountain Top!

**Hey guys here's the new chapter. I just started going to college and its been really busy for me. Not only did I have to move but my uncle had me help him with moving stuff on a restaurant he just bought and after hours and hours of servitude he game me ten dollars (what am I six?). I have also finished with writing the end of the story and all I have to do is add some detail, dialogue and characteristics and I'm done. I've also been working on ideas for the sequel so look forward to it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts**

**Kingdom Hearts: Slave of Love**

**Ch. 16 Quick! To the Mountain Top!**

Sora was in the bliss of sleep but felt something on his left arm. He turned on his side but felt the same sensation on the back of his neck. With a growl he opened his eyes to see Akira leaning on him with a needle on her hand.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sora asked as he pushed the girl off and sat up. It had only taken Sora a few hours of knowing the girl to mark her as the second most annoying person on his life, with the title proudly held by Demyx.

"Waking you up Sowa," Akira said with a fake sweet smile. Sora felt his right eye twitch as he yawned and ran a hand through his hair.

"It's Sora. Where's Kairi anyway?" he asked with an irritated expression.

"She left a little while ago and told me to wake you up," the girl explained. "So go get ready…Sowa."

"My name is Sora," Sora said through gritted teeth. With that he went to the bathroom and took a quick shower to get the sleep out of his system.

"**AAAAAAHHHHH!" **screamed a loud voice making Sora slip on the bathtub and hit his right arm on the tub. Sora cursed loudly and heard laughter coming from inside his head.

_What the hell was that for? _Sora said mentally.

"**You looked half sleep so I did you a favor," **Sora's inner heartless said in an amused tone.

"Freaking idiot," Sora muttered as he rubbed his arm and got back up.

"**Why are you calling me an idiot? A real idiot is one that can't even sense darkness around him," **the heartless taunted.

_Did you find out where the dark presence is coming from? _Sora turned off the shower and took a towel.

"**It's coming from inside of the mountain," **the heartless exclaimed. Sensing Sora's confusion he continued. "**There's probably some cave where that person or thing is."**

"That didn't help at all," Sora muttered as he dried himself.

"**You should be grateful that I'm offering you assistance here. Don't expect me to do so often though and remember that I'm only doing this because I plan on getting this body later on," **the heartless said before going back to Sora's heart.

"I knew that this trip was going to be a pain," Sora said as he started to get dressed.

**VvV**

The rest of the group was currently in the living room. They had already eaten and were getting prepared to climb the mountain. Namine and Selphie checked to see if the fundamentals were packed. Roxas and Demyx were arguing while Hayner and Olette watched them in amusement. Xion was quietly reading a book and Kairi was waiting for Sora to come down.

"Everything's packed," Namine said with a smile.

"Good, when do we leave?" Hayner said with a grin.

"As soon as Sora's ready," Selphie said.

As if invocating him, Sora came into the living room with an annoyed look. Behind him Akira walked with a happy expression, it didn't take a genius to figure out that she had been annoying Sora.

"Finally," Demyx said with a sigh. "We've been waiting for you to come down."

"You were?" Sora asked in confusion.

"Of course we can't leave without you man," Demyx said with a grin.

"Demyx you have gained some of my respect," Sora muttered while nodding his head in approval.

"Who else is going to carry our stuff?" Demyx finished with an even bigger grin.

"Damn you Demyx," Sora muttered thorough gritted teeth.

"Let's go Sora," Kairi said, taking hold of Sora's hand and leading him into the kitchen.

"Where are you taking me?" Sora asked with a nervous smile, _she's finally going to kill me. I can't say I didn't see it coming._

"We're going to get you something to eat but since we have to leave quickly I'll get you something light," Kairi said when they arrived at the kitchen.

"Don't I need to pack?" Sora asked as he sat on the counter chair.

"I already packed for you," Kairi said as she looked through the kitchen drawers. "You don't need any clothes so I packed other stuff you'll need."

"Okay," Sora nodded. Kairi then placed a bowl of cereal in front of him.

"Eat that quickly, we have to go," she said with a stern expression. To her surprise Sora pulled the bowl to his mouth and began to pour everything in.

"Done," Sora said after ten seconds.

"I'm not even going to ask?" Kairi said with a sweatdrop.

"You guys ready to go?" Roxas yelled from the living room.

"We're coming," Sora yelled back as he and Kairi went to the living room to get ready.

**VvV**

The group had been climbing the mountain for about an hour and so far nothing had happened. Sora was highly on the alert as the group went up the mountain. He knew that his inner heartless wouldn't mistake a dark being for something else so he made sure to always be prepared.

_As long as we're in a group nothing will go wrong,_ Sora thought with a smile as the group continued their way up the mountain. When they reached a point where the path broke into four the group stopped walking and pondered on what to do.

"I think we should remain in a group," Olette said as she tried to catch her breath.

"But it's too boring, I thought that going up a mountain would be kind of fun but nothings happened," Demyx said with a whine.

"If you're looking for something fun to do, I have an idea," Roxas said with a smirk. A smirk that Sora was too familiar to with, this smirk usually led to severely embarrassing situations that usually ended with Sora being on the verge of insanity. "Why don't we make a kind of contest out of this?"

"What do you mean?" Namine asked with a confused look.

"Easy, we divide into four groups and see who can reach the hot springs first," Roxas said with a satisfied smile.

"That actually sounds fun," Selphie said with a nod. "What do you think Xion?"

"Whatever you want," Xion said, not taking her eyes off the new book she was reading.

"Well then it's settled. Now we have to decide on teams," Roxas said with an exited smile.

"Why don't we have Sora go with Akira?" Hayner asked with a smirk. Sora's eyes widened and he looked at the little girl that had an exited smile plastered on her face.

"Okay I'll go with him," Akira answered with a smile.

"Damn," Sora muttered to himself with a frown.

"Well I think I should go with Sora because those two might end up killing each other," Kairi said.

"Okay that should be team one, now let's assign the other teams," Namine said with a smile.

The teams were decided through the use of highly intelligent and processed information (rock, paper, scissors). Team two consisted of Namine and Roxas. Team three of Hayner and Olette. Lastly team four consisted of Demyx, Xion and Selphie. The different teams stood at the beginning of each path and with a loud 'GO' from Selphie, the teams ran in different directions.

As Roxas and Namine ran, Roxas took the time to look around the area. It had a dense forest and the path was made of dark blue pebbles that probably came from the mountain. He had been a little reluctant to be in Namine's team because they hadn't started on the best of terms and worse of all he still felt weird around her. As they continued to run Roxas took note of a cave on the mountain. He thought that he had seen movement but dismissed it as a small animal or a simple shadow.

Namine had been a little annoyed to be with Roxas because she had started to develop a crush on the guy. A part of her was happy to be with him but the bigger part was mad and afraid. Mad at the fact of having the worst luck on existence and afraid of being hurt again. She was completely consumed on her thoughts that she failed to notice that Roxas had come to a stop.

"Stop," Roxas half-yelled to Namine. The girl stopped and looked at Roxas with confusion written all over her face. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" She asked in a whisper. Roxas didn't respond but stood motionless as his eyes darted from side to side. Namine too stood motionless, she hadn't really seen or heard anything but if Roxas was acting so seriously then something must be wrong.

"What the?" Roxas muttered to himself as his eyes widened. Namine turned in the direction Roxas was staring at and was met with an adult bear. "Whatever you do, don't move," he instructed in a whisper. Namine nodded as she held back a whimper. She thought of how well Roxas was handling the situation, he was giving instructions and most of all he kept-

"SCREW THIS!" Roxas yelled as he ran past Namine.

Calm? Seeing the teen speed off, Namine too began to run. She managed to catch up to Roxas and when she looked back she saw that the bear was coming closer and closer.

"Barrier," Namine yelled. A clear force field formed in front of the bear. The bear crashed into it but continued to run at the teens.

"You didn't even slow it down," Roxas said through pants as he kept on running.

"Shut up! At least I'm doing something," Namine snapped at Roxas.

"I would do something if I had some kind of weapon," Roxas spat.

"Here you go good luck!" Namine said as she snapped her fingers and two keyblades formed in Roxas' hands. Roxas stared at the keyblades oddly, one was black and had a dark blue gem where the blade started and the other was white and had a star-shaped tip.

"What are these?" Roxas asked as he continued to run.

"Those are called keyblades. Every Special can summon those or give them to someone. They're power and shape depends on the key chains that are attached. In my case I only had those two," Namine explained as she continued to run. "Weren't you saying something about doing something if given weapons?"

"R-right," Roxas said with a nervous smile. He stopped running and turned towards the bear. "Do you think you can slow it down?"

"Leave it to me," Namine said as she shot a strong air current at the bear. The bear was slowed down but didn't stop on moving forward. With her other hand Namine shot another air current that made the bear stop. "Knock it unconscious I can't keep this much longer."

"Right," Roxas said with a nod. He charged at the bear and whacked him on the head with the handle of his keyblades. The bear was unconscious almost immediately and was pushed back a couple of feet due to the wind. The air currents stopped and Namine kneeled to catch her breath.

"Are you alright?" Roxas asked as he kneeled next to her.

"I'm alright," Namine said through pants. "I just need a little time to catch my breath. What was wrong with that bear anyway?"

"I don't know. Bears usually attack when someone enters their territory but they don't attack to the extent of this one. In fact they get scared easily I'm surprised this one kept going at us," Roxas explained.

"Well I don't want to stay to find out. Let's go before it wakes up," Namine said as she stood up and began to walk. Roxas caught up to her and couldn't help but be intrigued on why the bear had attacked to that extent.

**VvV**

Hayner and Olette walked through the mountain with happy faces. They presumed that they were in first place since Hayner had spotted a kind of shortcut (cable cars). They got off the cable cars at the stop that came a little before the top. They decided not to use the cable cars to go the whole way up, they would have felt as if they had cheated.

"Let's get going," Hayner said with a smile as he led the way up the mountain.

"Alright," Olette said as she followed the blond teen. She couldn't help but admire her surroundings; she found the place unique and beautiful. Oddly there weren't a lot of animals around, in fact it was really rare to see even the smallest of animals save for birds that flew up high.

"Hang on," Hayner said as he came to a stop.

"What's wrong?" Olette asked in concern.

"I think we have to climb that," Hayner said. In front of him was large rocky hill that led to the above level. Hayner was one for adventure and thought that this would be kind of fun but he worried that Olette didn't have the arm strength to climb up.

"Do we really have to climb that?" Olette said with a shiver.

"Looks like it. It's either that or find a way up from that cave over there," he said, pointing at a dark cave.

"I guess we should go through the cave. I don't think I'll be able to climb up," Olette said with a sad look.

"Don't worry about it. It's just as fun to explore a cave," Hayner said with an exited grin. "Let's get going," he led Olette into the cave and to his luck found that the cave's floor led up. After a few steps he could see light at the end of the cave. "I didn't think it would be this small. I was hoping for a bigger and longer cave," he said with a whine.

"It'll be okay," Olette said with a smile. She was relieved that the cave was a short one. Soon enough they got out of the cave and were met by a small clearing with green grass, trees, and flowers of every color.

"What is this place?" Hayner asked himself ignoring the blissful expression on Olette's face. He looked around and found that the clearing led to another path that had the end of the cable cars.

"This place is great," Olette said as she smelled a yellow flower.

"Don't get too comfortable we still have a couple of minutes before we reach the hot springs so let's go," Hayner said as he started to walk but stopped when he heard a sort of growl.

"What was that?" Olette asked with fear on her face. Hayner shook his head in response and looked around for any sort of movement.

_There, _he thought as he spun around and saw a sort of wolf like creature walking on four legs on top of a small hill. His eyes widened when he saw the creature closer, it had the torso of a man and part of its face seemed human-like.

"W-who are you?" Hayner asked in a stutter. The creature simply leapt off and landed on the clearing. It began to growl at the two teens and began to walk towards them.

"What is that?" Olette asked with fear in her eyes.

"Go away!" Hayner yelled. The yell fell to deaf ears as the creature leapt at the two teens in an incredible speed.

**VvV**

Xion was not one to show emotion but now she found it hard not to yell. The reason being that she was walking along two brunettes that wouldn't shut up for anything. They would talk about every single subject, at one point they began talking about not having anything to talk about. This is why Xion was relieved to see some movements from the nearby trees. She figured that whatever thing was there would probably make the two shut up.

"Stop," Xion muttered as she held up a hand in front of the brunettes.

"What's wrong emo-bot?" Demyx asked in confusion.

"Did you see anything?" Selphie asked in worry. She had known that Xion would sense any danger since she was one of the best students in the school.

"Movement to the north-east," Xion said in an emotionless voice. The two brunettes turned to where Xion said. Xion fought off a sigh as she turned to the teens. "Other way," when the two turned the right way they saw a couple of bushes move.

"What do we do?" Demyx cried as he began to flail his arms.

"I don't know, we should get out of here," Selphie said as she took hold of Demyx's arm.

"Good idea," Demyx said but as he turned to leave something jumped out of the bushes. It was a sort of creature that was at least seven feet tall. It was covered in fur but had the appearance of a man save for the large metal plate that was imbedded to its gut.

With a loud roar the creature charge at the teens. Xion saw this and pointed the palm of her hand at the creature.

"Wind," she muttered as a powerful wind emitted from her hand. The wind took force the creature away and it even took some trees with it.

"You did it!" the brunettes cheered.

"Not done," Xion replied as she stared at a pile of ruble where the creature had been thrown. Soon enough the ruble flew in all directions and the creature came out with multiple cuts all around its body. With a sort of grunt the creature charged at Xion again.

"Thunder," Xion said with two fingers pointed at the creature. Two thunder bolts came from the tip of Xion's fingers and hit the creature on the brain and the heart, destroying them before the creature knew what happened.

"Did you do it?" Selphie asked uneasily. Xion nodded and pointed to the small holes on the creatures head and chest.

"Wow Xion you're really strong," Demyx exclaimed happily.

"Let's go," Xion said as the group continued to make their way up the mountain.

**VvV**

Sora, Kairi and Akira walked up a rocky hill with different expressions. Kairi had a sort of relaxed look on her face. Akira had a happy one on hers and Sora had a look that said 'kill me now'. He had been tortured into carrying everything by the two girls. He had no idea how a girl with no memory or possessions had managed to have enough clothes to pack two suitcases in just one day. It didn't help that they were going up a steep hill at the moment, Sora swore he heard his feet scream with every step he took.

_Finally, _Sora thought with a smile when he reached the top of the hill. _How I managed to do that without falling it's beyond me, _Sora thought with a shrug. He looked around and found that they had arrived at a rocky area with many caves and holes around, there was no sign of vegetation anywhere and hill stood next to a cave.

"Let's rest for a little bit," Kairi said as she sat on a nearby rock. Sora put the suit cases down and sat on his own rock while Akira began to play around the area.

"Careful with the holes if you fall you'll crack your head open," Sora said to the girl making her go play near a cave.

"How's the trip so far?" Kairi asked with a smile.

"So far so good. Nothing's happened yet," Sora said with a serious expression.

"What do you mean?" Kairi asked in slight worry.

"Um nothing. I was just being a little paranoid you know how I get when I don't get enough sleep," Sora said with a nervous smile.

"Sora I know you're hiding something," Kairi said with a stern expression.

"Fine," Sora said with a sigh. "I just have the feeling that something will go wrong on this trip so I'm staying on the alert."

"You don't really have to worry Sora," Kairi said. As soon as she said that Sora darted from his rock and ran to Akira. "What are you doing?"

"What?" Akira said when he saw Sora running towards her. Sora summoned his keyblade and swung a few inches away from Akira's head. In a swift motion Sora picked up the girl and swung his keyblade at the same time. Once done he put a little bit of distance between himself and the attacker.

"Stay back," Sora said to Akira once he put her on the ground. She nodded and ran away from the creature that stood in front of Sora. It was a kind of humanoid darkness with a large dark tale and tentacles for hair. Its face was pitch black and the only visible thing were its bright yellow eyes. The creature had a large heart shaped hole on most of its torso and a muscular build.

"What is that?" Kairi asked as she ran next to Sora.

"I think it's a kind of heartless," Sora said in a serious tone. "I'll attack head on while you distract it with some spells."

"Okay but be careful," Kairi said in a worried tone. Sora smiled at her and nodded before dashing towards the heartless. The heartless swung its arm at Sora but he simply smacked it away with his free hand and stabbed at the heartless' face. His keyblade met air as the heartless sidestepped. It then used its claws to stab Sora's right shoulder. Sora stifled a cry as he felt the claws piercing his skin. He used his left hand to summon the keyblade and with a yell he cut the heartless' arm off.

The heartless screeched in pain and took a few steps back before being hit by a large fireball. It turned towards its attacker to find Kairi with her right palm facing it. The heartless roared and turned to charge at the redhead but was stabbed through the head by Sora's keyblade.

"Don't turn your back on me," Sora muttered bitterly while holding his right shoulder in pain.

"Are you okay?" Kairi asked as she and Akira ran to him.

"Of course I'm okay, I just thought that I had way too much blood so decided to get rid of some," Sora said in a sarcastic tone.

"You don't have to be a jerk about it," Kairi said with her arms crossed.

"I'm sorry Kairi, it just burns like hell," Sora said with a pained expression.

"Let me heal it," Kairi said as she put her hands over the wound and enveloped it on a green light. "I won't be able to heal it completely but it'll stop the bleeding."

"Thanks," Sora said once Kairi was done. She handed him a towel to hold his arm up but saw that he wouldn't be able to tie it by himself and so she did it for him, taking note of the closeness of their faces.

"I'm sorry," Akira said through teary eyes as she eyed Sora's wound. "It was my fault that you got hurt."

"What makes you say that?" Sora said with a bored expression. "I was aiming at your head but the damned heartless got in the way."

"Thank you," Akira said with a small smile.

"For what?" Sora asked in confusion.

"For saving me," Akira said with a happy smile.

"Okay enough emotional moments," Sora said as he ruffled the girl's hair. "Let's get going," the group agreed and followed Sora, this time with them carrying some of the suitcases.

**VvV**

Olette saw the creature approaching and felt her heart come to a stop. There was no way that she would come out alive and if she did she would probably never be able to move again. She turned to Hayner only to find him smiling.

"Come on ugly," Hayner taunted as he reached into his many pockets and took out a small dagger. With perfect aim he threw the dagger and stabbed the creature's front right paw. The creature roared in pain and ran towards Hayner but at a lot slower pace.

"Not gonna work," Hayner said as he took out a handful of spikes from his short's right pocket and threw them on the ground. The creature screeched in pain as he felt the spikes pierce into its skin. "Let's get going."

"Why? That thing is still alive," Olette exclaimed.

"Don't worry; those spikes had a poison found in snakes. It paralyzes the victim and then kills it from the inside," Hayner explained. Olette nodded and followed the teen to the cable car stop. They found several dirt paths next to it and saw Xion, Demyx and Selphie walking in one.

"Hey guys," Demyx exclaimed happily.

"Hey Demyx how did it go?" Hayner asked with a smile.

"It was horrible. We were attacked by some weird monster but Xion took care of it in a matter of seconds," Demyx explained happily.

"We were attacked by something too," Olette said with a frown.

"What was it?" Selphie asked in curiosity.

"It was some kind of wolf man thing," Hayner said.

"Hey guys," said a voice from the distance. They saw Roxas walked alongside Namine while waving his arm.

"How did you do Roxas?" Hayner asked.

"Good at first but then we were attacked by a bear," Roxas explained.

"A bear? Good at least it wasn't a mutated monster," Selphie said with a frown.

"A what?" Namine asked, slightly taken back.

"We were all attacked by weird creatures," Selphie said with a serious expression. "I don't think it's a coincidence, there must be something wrong in this place."

They were broken from their conversation when they heard arguing. Down the last dirt path they saw a wounded Sora arguing with Akira with Kairi trying to calm them both down.

"What happened to you?" Demyx asked. Sora looked up and was surprised to see his friends already there.

"Hey guys how did it go?" Sora asked with a grin.

"We were attacked by some weird creatures and a bear," Roxas said with a frown. "What happened to you?"

"A heartless was about to attack Akira but Sora stopped it but got himself wounded," Kairi explained with a worried expression.

"I have no doubts anymore, there's something wrong on this place. We have to find out what it is," Selphie said while throwing a fist in the air.

"That might be fun," Hayner agreed with a smile. The whole group, except Sora, agreed to look around for any signs of activity after booking a room on the hot springs.

"Let's go get our rooms before they're all taken," Namine said as she and the group began to walk up a set of stone stairs that led to the hot springs.

The inside of the hot springs was cozy and had a certain warmth radiating from everywhere, it wasn't uncomfortable it was just right. They met with a happy looking employee that gladly gave them two large rooms, one for the guys and one for the girls. She proceeded to tell them where the baths were and where they could go if they were hungry. She then led the group to their rooms and Sora decided to go relax on the hot spring before going to sleep.

"Here we are," the employee said. She and the group had stopped in a Japanese style hallway with two slide doors facing each other. "The men's room in the one on the left and the girl's room is on the right. If you don't require anything else I'll take my leave."

As soon as the employee was gone Sora entered his room and got ready to go relax. He took a clean towel from his suitcase and left for the springs.

**VvV**

Sora was sitting happily on the hot springs. He had a tint of pink on his cheeks and a completely relaxed look on his face. He felt that his arm was getting a little better but knew that it would be much worse in the morning. With a content sigh he adjusted his position and heard the door open. He saw his friends enter with towels around their waists. Then suddenly a thought struck him, he hadn't seen any other person in the hot springs or the mountain for that matter. Only they and the employees were here, he wondered if it had anything to do with the strange creatures that surrounded the area but decided to leave that thought for another time. Right now he was way too relaxed to worry about anything.

"How's the water Sora?" Roxas asked as he approached the spring. He got a bunch of pleased groans in response. He entered and felt himself relax; the water was just right and the warmth that covered his body made him feel at complete peace. The whole group joined the two teens later and all gave a happy sigh at the same time.

Sora was the first to go since his body was starting to feel bad from the heat. So he took a towel, dried his hair and went to his room. He looked around the room and found it to be Japanese styled too, it was painted a cream color with what appeared to be green waves at the bottom.

Too tired to appreciate craftsmanship Sora slid into one of the futons on the floor and went to sleep. He knew that there would be more trouble coming but he hoped that he would be able to protect everyone. Most of them didn't really need protection but he felt that even though they could handle themselves he should help them and protect them the best he could. He felt sleep overtake him and thought, _we'll get through this guys. I promise, _before giving in to sleep.

**Ch. 16 End**

**I got to say, I thought that the beginning of this chapter wasn't that great. I thought that I did a sloppy job at writing it. Anyway I'm glad I'm done with writing the draft of the whole story. I'm working ideas for the sequel right now and the way its going I think I might need to make it a trilogy. I'm not going to worry about that now so please review and I hope you like this chapter.**


	17. Secret of the Mountain

**I've decided to give you guys one more chapter before the end of the month. I'm really happy with the reviews I've gotten, thanks. This little filler is almost over, it'll probably be over like in two chapters. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts**

**Kingdom Hearts: Slave of Love**

**Ch. 17 Secret of the Mountain**

The sun rose in the large mountain that had been climbed by Sora and his friends. There were a few animals here and there but they were scarce. The reason being the strange creatures living on this mountain. On the hot springs that was located near the top of the mountains only two rooms were being used. This had once been very busy but since the creatures appeared less people started coming, leaving the owners with little to not profit. This is why they were grateful to have a few costumers and treated them the best they could.

Sora slept on a futon inside the man's bedroom. His friends slept on futons next to him, clearly tired from the climb the previous day. His friends had gone to bed about an hour later after Sora went to sleep. Sora's shoulder was still hurting but he could muster the pain, but his right arm was pretty much useless for the next few days. This meant that if they were attacked by more creatures he would have to use his weak hand to fight.

Sora shifted on the futon and opened his eyes to be greeted with bright sunlight coming from a window. He winced and closed his eyes in an attempt to stop the pain coming from his eyes. He then sat up and rubbed his eyes before standing up and going to the restroom. The restroom was down the hallway where the bedrooms were so it was impossible for Sora to go back to sleep after going because he could never go back to sleep if he woke up for more than a minute.

When he got out of the room and into the hallway he noted that the girl's room was slightly open. Not wanting to be classified as a pervert he ignored the room and went into the bathroom. He washed his face and slapped himself awake, he hadn't slept well for about a week and his body was showing him. He had a little black under his eyes and his eyes burned a little every time he woke up. Realizing that he was in a place that was made to be relaxing he went into his room, took a towel and left for the hot springs.

Not surprised to see nobody there, Sora shed his clothes and walked into the water. He immediately relaxed and let his muscles relax on the heat of the water. He closed his eyes and sighed but his eyes snapped open only seconds later. No matter what he did he hadn't gotten over the fact that the girl's room was open.

"Damn it!" Sora exclaimed as he got out of the water and put his clothes back on. He hated when he left something unattended and it would come back later to haunt his mind until he checked on it. "If nothing's wrong I'm going to be pissed."

When he got to the girl's room he opened the door quietly in order to avoid waking the girls. He poked his head in and looked around the room. The room was in order and the girl's slept peacefully.

_Nothing appears to be wrong, _Sora thought with a frown but his eyes widened suddenly. _Wait a minute! One…two…three…four, there's one missing, _he entered the room and approached Kairi's futon. _Please don't freak out, _Sora thought as he shook her awake. Kairi began to stir and opened her eyes to see a distressed looking Sora.

"Sora? What's wrong?" Kairi asked as she sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"Kairi, where's Akira?" Sora asked with a frown. Kairi's eyes widened and she began to look for the girl around the room but found nothing.

"I don't know. She slept here yesterday maybe she went to the hot springs," Kairi said as she and Sora walked out of the room.

"Let's hope she is," Sora muttered to himself. When they arrived at the woman's hot springs, Sora waited outside for Kairi. She came out with a sad look on her face and shook her head.

"We have to tell the others and start searching for her. What if she's in trouble?" Sora said as he made his way to the man's bedroom.

"I'll wake up the girls," Kairi said as she hurried to the girl's room. She had grown fond of the girl and had a feeling that Akira was in trouble. She somehow knew that despite appearances Sora and Akira were even closer than herself and the girl. They played the tough love charade and were able to fool the others but she knew better. As she entered the room only one thought ran through her head, _please be okay Akira. _

**VvV**

When Kairi and Sora explained the situation to their respective roommates, the group decided on searching for her on the hot springs. They spent about an hour looking in the large building and could not find the girls. By this time the group was getting desperate and asked the two employees of the place if they had seen anything. To their dismay, they hadn't seen anything of the girl. The group was getting worried since if Akira wasn't in the hot springs then that meant that she could be in the dangerous part of the mountain. Sora knew that it was too dangerous to get the whole group to go so he decided on splitting the group in half; one group would search the nearby area while the other would search further into the mountain.

The group of teens was now standing outside of the hot springs, some with uneasy looks while others had a determined expression on their faces. Sora instantly knew who wouldn't be able to go further into the mountain. It wasn't that he thought little of them or their skills; he just knew that some of his friends weren't cut out for fighting. In this group were Demyx, Selphie and Olette. Those three hadn't shown any signs of being good at defending themselves or others. Maybe Selphie since Sora didn't know how good she was with her magic but he didn't want to risk it. The other group consisted of Hayner, Roxas, Xion, Namine, Kairi and himself. Since Sora had known Roxas for a long time he knew what he was capable of. He didn't know much about Hayner but from what he heard he had proven to be good at handling himself. Namine and Kairi were a little different from the other two. Though they were great at magic they were scared pretty easily. However, the positives outweighed the negatives so he thought that it would be good if either one of them could come. The most mysterious one was Xion, she was quiet and reserved but from what he heard she had beaten one of those creatures without as much as a scratch. She would prove a great asset in finding Akira and her true skills weren't out in the open yet, who knows how strong she really is.

Lastly was himself. Sora was confident in his skills and knew that he could handle himself. Even if he couldn't he still had his inner heartless who, according to Cid, would take over whenever Sora was on the verge of death. Overall he would be a great asset but he was still feeling the injury on his shoulder. Sora knew his own limits so he knew that he wouldn't be able to fight using his right arm. It would be quite risky if he went but he would go look for Akira, if it cost him his life.

"Okay guys we're splitting into two groups," Sora said while making his was in front of everyone.

"Why's that?" Selphie asked with a confused look.

"Because we'll be able to cover more ground and in case Akira comes back we'll have someone here," Sora said. "One group will look around the hot springs while another group will go search the mountain."

"Please tell me I'll stay here," Demyx said with a whine.

"I want to go it might be fun," Hayner said with a smirk.

"I've already assembled the groups," Sora said. "Demyx, Selphie, Olette, Hayner and Xion will stay here while the rest of us go look for Akira."

"Why do I have to stay?" Hayner asked with a pout ignoring the cheering from Demyx.

"We need someone strong to stay here?" Sora said with a stern expression. Hayner glared at Sora but agreed anyway. He then walked to his group and put on a determined face. "Are you guys ready to go?"

"Of course," Roxas said with a smirk. Sora nodded at his group and began to walk down the mountain's trail with his group closely behind.

"Might as well look around," Hayner said with a sigh once Sora's group was out of sight. He understood what Sora was saying but that didn't mean he had to agree. After all he was the only one who volunteered to go.

"He said to look around so let's go," Selphie said with a smile.

"Fine let's go," Hayner said with a sigh as the group started to scout the area.

**VvV**

Roxas was always an observant person, more when it came to his friends. Which is why he noticed Sora's distress. He had thought that he didn't like the girl but seeing him now Roxas found it rather amusing and couldn't help but give out a little giggle.

"You're not thinking anything perverted are you?" Namine asked with a look of fear as the stepped away from the boy.

"What?" Roxas asked with wide eyes.

"Don't lie to me. That little perverted giggle of yours told me all I need to know," Namine said with a huff.

"But I wasn't-" Roxas started but was cut off by an annoyed Sora.

"Roxas shut up already. Leave your perverted thoughts behind and focus on looking for Akira," Sora said with a frown. Roxas rolled his eyes and looked around the area. They were walking in a trail made of small blue pebbles in what appeared to be a small forest. Again he noted that there was no sign of animal life on the mountain and he couldn't help but feel slightly concerned. He had been thought that animals were the first to sense things and would run away from dangerous places. He would have pushed that thought aside yesterday but after the creatures he had seen he knew that there was something wrong with the mountain.

"Do you really think she could be here?" Namine asked Sora.

"Can't hurt to look. I'd rather do something that stay in one place waiting for her to appear," Sora said with a serious face. "Besides we don't know when she disappeared it could have been right after we fell asleep."

"I guess you're right," Namine said with a sigh.

"Why do you think she just disappeared?" Roxas asked the group.

"I really don't know," Kairi said with a frown. "But, she could be in trouble and we have to help her."

"Well the cause of her disappearance ranges from many things," Roxas explained.

"We're not going to stop looking for her," Sora said through gritted teeth. Roxas really hated when this Sora made his appearance. According to Roxas there were two Sora's; the carefree funny normal Sora and the focused, stubborn and determined Sora. He would usually get like this whenever the situation was too serious but Roxas thought that he was a real pain in the ass.

"I'm not saying that we should stop looking for her. What I'm saying is that her disappearance could've been caused by something that is completely harmless," Roxas reasoned.

"How could disappearing be caused by something harmless?" Sora asked with a frown.

"I know," Namine said with a smile.

"You do?" Kairi asked with a sweatdrop. She already knew what was about to happen, Namine was probably going to explain another one of her weird fantasies.

"Yes now let me explain," Namine said while holding a finger in the air.

_Akira was sleeping peacefully in her room when she heard a noise. Thinking it was some kind of alien she got out of the room and decided to look around. While walking through the hallway she saw a strange light coming from a window. She ran to the window and without thinking jumped out. She had forgotten she was on the second floor and closed her eyes tightly shut, expecting pain. When pain didn't come she opened her eyes to find herself harmless and laying on top of a flying carpet. She was amazed at the carpet and was surprised when two people appeared in front of her in two clouds of smoke. _

"_Who are you?" Akira asked with a smile._

"_We're your parents," a man with a black bushy mustache said._

"_Let's go home," a woman with light brown hair said._

"_Yay let's go," Akira exclaimed as the carpet flew off into the bright blue skies._

"And that's what probably happened," Namine said with a grin. The three teens looked at her in complete and utter amazement. They couldn't believe that so much stupid could be coming from one place. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Wow," Roxas sighed with an amazed look on his face. "First off Namine why would she think it was aliens if she never spoke or probably thought about them and how do you expect a carpet to fly in midair. Last but not least how could they fly off into the bright blue skies if it was the middle of the night?"

"You don't have to be a jerk about it?" Namine murmured with a pout.

"Come on. We're wasting time," Sora said as he increased his pace.

_Really hate this Sora, _Roxas thought with a sigh.

**VvV**

Later that day the two groups had come together to record their findings. Hayner's group hadn't found anything on the girl and Sora's group didn't do much better. The groups were obviously tired and wanted nothing more than to rest a little. Even Kairi thought that it would be smart to take a little break before looking for Akira. Sora refused to stop and decided to go look for Akira on his own when the group didn't notice.

The teens were now in two different hot springs. The girls were relaxing on the hot spring all with happy expressions on their face, with the exception of Kairi of course. She didn't want to stop looking for Akira but knew that they wouldn't get far if they looked for her exhausted. She couldn't stop thinking about the girl and knew that Sora wasn't much better. In fact she knew that Sora would do something incredibly stupid if left alone. Which is why she planned on monitoring him after they were finished relaxing in the spring.

On the guys' hot spring they were also relaxing. They were all in a state of bliss and didn't notice that one person was missing. The guys had been through a lot in the course of twenty four hours and couldn't be blamed for their lack of attention.

**VvV**

Sora ran though the mountain at a fast pace. He had his keyblade in hand, since he had been attacked by several weird creatures and a look of pure determination on his face. He couldn't, no, wouldn't rest until he found the girl that had made his life a living hell the past few days. In his eyes she was just like him when he was her age. He too didn't have anybody and was lost on his own way. It wasn't until he met Aqua that he began to turn his life around but before that he had been an empty shell.

_All because of those bastards, _Sora thought with a look of pure hatred on his face. Not many knew this side of Sora in fact only Aqua knew of this side of him since he had had that look on his face when he met her. Sora shook his head to get rid of those thoughts and focused on the task at hand. He couldn't lose himself in his thoughts.

"Wait a minute," Sora said with realization on his mind. "In…of course. Why have I been so stupid," he sped off and ran towards one of the cliffs of the mountain.

**VvV**

Kairi got out of the girl's changing room looking completely refreshed. She was even thinking of getting Sora to go look for Akira with her. When she reached the medium sized cafeteria of the hot springs she immediately noted the absence of Sora on the table filled with the guys and girls. Apparently they hadn't noticed that the teen was gone since they all looked carefree and happy.

"Where's Sora?" She asked when she was closed enough to the table.

"Sora?" Roxas half-yelled with wide eyes. He looked around and sure enough there was no Sora anywhere.

"Where did he go?" Demyx asked with a frown. "I could've sworn he was on the hot spring with us."

"Damn, this makes one more disappearance," Roxas said with a frown.

"I know what happened," Namine said with her eyes closed while nodding her head. "You see, he was thirsty so he got out of th-"

"Stop for your own good," Roxas said with a nervous laugh.

"We all know where he is," Kairi said, gaining the attention of the group. "He went to look for Akira again."

"Yeah, knowing Sora he's probably out there running like crazy," Roxas said with a frown.

"Should we look for him?" Olette asked with a worried expression.

"Yeah we should but some of us have to stay here in case he comes back," Kairi said.

"I'll stay," Demyx said with a happy expression on his face.

"Let's just get the fastest people here," Namine said with a serious look on her face. "I think that Hayner, Xion, Roxas, Kairi and I should go look for him."

"All agree?" Roxas asked the group. The group nodded with smirks on their faces. "Then let's go."

**VvV**

"I'm so stupid, why didn't I think of this sooner?" Sora asked himself with a frown as he walked inside one of the many caves of the mountain. He had been walking for about an hour and found that the caves were leading up and in some parts they had metal floors and ladders a clear sign that someone used this place. One of the things that he found was Akira's small shoe; he didn't want to think the worse which is why he had sped his pace.

"Where are you?" Sora muttered to himself as he rounded a corner and to his surprise was met by a metal door. "What is this?"

He walked to the metal door and tried to open it but to no avail. Not wanting to waste more time, Sora summoned his keyblade and broke the door (forgetting the fact that he carried the key for every door in the world). He entered a strange room with many large tubes filled with some kind of green liquid with people and animals floating inside. He noted that the people and animals were dead and that some tubes were connected by high voltage wires.

"What's all this?" he asked himself with a look of disgust but his eyes widened when he reached a cell. Inside was non other than an unconscious Akira wearing only one shoe. "Akira! Don't worry I'll take you out!" Sora began to point the keyblade at the lock but was stopped when he heard footsteps. He turned around and was met by the clerk at the store he had gone too yesterday. "What are you doing here?"

"The real question is: 'What are _you _doing here?" the man asked with a chuckle. "Are you here to volunteer?"

"Volunteer? For what?" Sora asked with a frown.

"To be my specimen of course," the man said with a creepy grin. "The story I told you yesterday was true but I forgot to tell you that I'm actually the scientist I was telling you about."

"What?" Sora asked with a look of fear mixed with disgust. "So you're the guy who was experimenting on children?"

"That is me," the man said with a dark smile. "I am Hideaki the greatest scientist in the world."

"I don't care who you are. I just want to know one thing," Sora said with his hand ready to summon his keyblade. The man raised an eyebrow at Sora and motioned him to ask. "Why is Akira here?"

"You can't be serious can you?" the man asked with an irritated expression on his face. "Akira is here because she's my daughter and one of the tools I'll use to create my ultimate experiment."

"Are you sick?" Sora yelled at the man with a look of hatred. "She's your daughter, you're supposed to protect her!"

"I don't care for that girl," the man said with a bored look. "My assistant and I decided to conceive her in order to test our mind control experiments."

"What did you do to her you bastard?" Sora yelled with his fists clenched.

"We implanted a small chip on her brain," Hideaki explained. "The chip is harmless when it's dormant but when I turn it on I'm able to make her do what I want. I'm also able to erase any of her memories at will. I'm planning on destroying the memories the girl had with you since she's starting to rebel against my control."

"Then I'll stop you," Sora said in a dark tone as he summoned his keyblade.

"Violence is so barbaric," the man said with a sigh. "Are you sure you don't want to be my specimen?"

"Why would I do that if I'm able to beat you?" Sora asked with a smirk.

"Do you really think you can beat me?" the man asked with an amused expression. "I have enhanced my muscles and my cells to make me almost inhuman. I can do things that people dream of doing and you plan to fight me?"

"That just means that I have to hit harder!" Sora yelled as he dashed at the man.

**Ch. 17 End**

**I left you guys a little cliffhanger here. I'm sorry if you think that this chapter is a little small but like I said above, I want to post one more chapter before the month is over. Oh, and is anybody else getting Birth by Sleep? I'm currently saving up to buy the psp bundle thing. So far I'm twenty dollars short but I'm sure I'll buy it when it comes out. Thank you guys for reading and please review.**


	18. He Returns

**Here's the next chapter guys, I hope you like it because I had to rewrite this chapter like ten times before I was okay with it. To tell you the truth I was planning on killing Akira but decided against it last minute, something about a little girl dying is way too harsh. Thank you for the reviews guys and I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts**

**Ch. 18 He Returns**

Kairi, Namine, Roxas, Hayner and Xion walked through the forest on the mountain. They had been running at first but after exhaustion caught up to the group they had started to walk. So far they hadn't seen any sign of Sora but continued to look in high hopes of finding him quickly. Kairi blamed herself for Sora's disappearance since she had known that he would be doing something like this. The group told her that only Sora was at fault but she didn't listen.

"Anything?" Roxas asked while looking around the area.

"Nothing," Namine answered with a frown. "Where could he have gone? He left no trace or anything, much like Akira did."

"We have to keep looking," Kairi said. "If we haven't seen Sora then that could mean that he found Akira."

"I guess that could happen," Hayner said with a nod. "But how is it possible for anyone not to leave a trace. If he had found her I'm sure there would be signs of broken branches or disturbed bushes, but we haven't seen anything."

"We haven't looked in the right place," Xion said with an emotionless look.

"What do you mean Xion?" Kairi asked, hoping that she would know where to look.

"They have probably gone to a location that leaves little to no trace," Xion said.

"Where would that be exactly?" Roxas asked with a serious expression.

"The caves," Xion said. The group's eyes widened and cursed themselves for not looking there. It was so simple, so simple in fact that it would be the last place anyone would look. The group ran to the nearest cave that stood in a clearing of the forest. They were about to go in but were interrupted by several growls. They turned around and were met by four strange creatures. One was a deer with two larger than average horns and large fangs coming from its maw, the biggest feature would be its pitch black fur. Another creature was a kind of bibber but had the size of a person, it had two large fangs sticking out of its mouth and one of its arms was covered in some kind of metal. The third creature appeared to be a moose but was standing up right; the face appeared to look somewhat human just like its right arm. The last of the creatures was a small heartless but appeared to be a little different. It had a heart shaped hole on its chest and its face looked like a persons, only pitch black.

"Looks like we have to fight," Roxas said with a smirk.

"This might be a little fun," Hayner said with a smile. Suddenly all of the creatures were pushed back by large fireballs that came from Xion's extended hand.

"Oh come on, I wanted to fight at least one," Roxas said with a pout.

"We don't have time for that let's go," Kairi said as she walked to the cave but stopped when she heard a loud screech. She turned around and saw that the creatures had come back. They now had several burn marks and were growling at the group. As they growled three large tentacles came out the heartless' back. The tentacles stabbed the creatures and started to absorb them.

"That is sick," Roxas said with a look of disgust. The heartless was enveloped in a dark purple aura that hid it from view. Roxas did not like where this was going. He could tell that the little heartless was getting stronger and stronger and began to fear that maybe it would be a little too hard to beat. When the aura died down the group could see that the heartless had completely changed. It was about the size of a tree, the heart shaped hole in its chest now covered most of its torso, two large black horns came out of its head and it had the arms and leg of a person, with one arm being covered in metal.

"We're screwed," Roxas muttered with a bitter smile.

"I was right, this will be a great fight," Hayner said with a smirk as he put a hand on one of his pockets.

"I think we have to beat it in order to pass," Kairi said with a frown.

"Don't worry. With all of us here it'll be a breeze," Hayner said with a grin.

"Right, if we all attack as one we'll beat it in one hit," Namine said.

"It's not that simple," Xion said while eyeing the creature.

"What are you talking about?" Namine asked with a nervous smile.

"That thing is stronger than any of you combined," Xion said with an emotionless look on her face.

"Then what do we do?" Hayner asked with a frown.

"I will take care of this alone," Xion said.

"Are you crazy? You said that it was stronger than all of us combined," Roxas said, clearly not happy about someone risking his life.

"I said that it was stronger than any of you combined. I never said that it was stronger than me," Xion explained.

"But we should help you. If we do then we'll beat that thing a lot faster," Hayner pleaded, clearly not happy about missing a fight.

"You should go help Sora," Xion said with no emotion on her voice. "He's in no condition to fight for himself."

"His shoulder," Kairi muttered to herself in shock. She had completely forgotten that Sora was injured, that didn't change much but she would've looked for him even harder. "We have to go."

"What are you talking about?" Roxas asked with a frown.

"She's sure that she can handle it but Sora's injured so he won't be fight using his good arm," Kairi explained.

"You're right," Roxas said with a sigh. "Are you sure you can handle this Xion?"

"Yes," Xion said.

"Then let's go," Roxas said as he led the group inside of the cave.

**VvV**

Sora charged at Hideaki with his keyblade held on his right hand, but when he prepared to swing he felt an immense pain coming from his shoulder. Hideaki took advantage of this and kicked Sora away, putting some distance between the two. Sora grasped his shoulder in pain and cursed himself for not thinking before attacking.

"What's wrong? You're not hurt are you?" Hideaki taunted. Sora glared at the man and took his keyblade on his left hand.

"You just got lucky," Sora said with a smirk. "The way I see it, the fight just started." With that Sora charged at the man and swung the keyblade, only to get his wrist caught by the man.

"Is this your all?" Hideaki asked with a smirk. Sora broke free from the grasp and tried to deliver a kick but had it blocked by Hideaki's left hand. "My turn," Hideaki punched Sora on the face with his free hand and threw him aside like a ragdoll. Sora's back hit a wall, hard. He coughed up blood before falling on the ground.

"Did you seriously think that you could beat me? I don't know where you come from but I'm surely in a whole other level. You haven't even harmed me yet, you are such a joke," Hideaki said with a disappointed expression. "I don't think you'll even be a worthy specimen."

"Damn," Sora muttered as he tried to sit up but proved to be a hard feat. His whole back ached and his shoulder was in throbbing pain. Hideaki was staring at him with an amused expression and Sora found that he couldn't do anything against this men but when his eyes saw Akira's unconscious figure he remembered that he was here to save the girl.

_It won't end like this, _Sora thought as he began to stand. _I won't let them continue using Akira. I'll save her from these monsters. I won't let her suffer anymore, even if I have to die…I'll make sure that she's safe, _Sora was now fully standing and his eyes flashed a color silver.

"What's this?" Hideaki asked, clearly amused.

"I…I won't," Sora began as he was enveloped by a silver aura. "I won't let you…" the silver aura enveloped the whole room and Hideaki found it hard to see. "I won't let you hurt her!"

"What the?" Hideaki asked himself when he saw Sora. His clothes and eyes had turned a silver color and he seemed to be floating on the air. "I was wrong; you'll be an amazing specimen!"

"Sorry to disappoint you," Sora said with a smirk. "But I don't plan on sticking around much longer. I'll beat you and take Akira with me."

"Let's see you try," Hideaki said with a chuckle. Sora charged at the man as he summoned his keyblade, which was now floating in front of him. This took the man by surprise and he couldn't block the keyblade slashing through his torso. Sora then kicked the man away and glared at him.

"Damn you," the man said as he tried to control the bleeding on his torso. "I'll kill you!" the man ran at Sora recklessly, which proved to be a grave mistake. Sora simply jumped towards the man's approaching figure and delivered a round-house kick to his face. The man was instantly unconscious.

"Finally," Sora said with a sigh as his clothes returned back to normal. He then went to check on Akira and began to shake her awake. Akira began to stir and when she opened her eyes she looked at Sora oddly.

"S-Sora?" Akira said in disbelief.

"Looks like you're finally awake," Sora said with a smile. "Now we can leave this place." Sora saw that Akira was still shaken up by the events and noticed that she seemed to be holding back her tears.

"T-thank you," she muttered with a lone tear running down her cheek.

"You don't have to thank me. I came for you because I'll never abandon those important to me," he said with a caring smile. Akira had never had anyone care for her which is why Sora's words broke her unwillingness to cry. She began to weep and Sora enveloped her in a hug telling her that she was okay now. When she finished crying Sora pulled back from the hug and ruffled her hair.

"Remember that if you're ever in trouble I'll always be there to protect you," Sora said with a smile. Akira nodded, fighting the urge to cry again. "Now let's go. I kinda just left without telling my friends and I'm pretty sure they already realized that I'm gone."

"You left without telling anyone?" Akira asked in disbelief. Sora simply scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"It doesn't matter anymore. We have to leave now before something else goes wrong," he said as he began to walk to the exit but found that it was now covered in rocks due to the fight. With a sigh he looked around and sure enough found another path that would hopefully take him to the exit. "Let's go Akira."

"Right," Akira said as she began to follow Sora, wincing slightly as she walked.

"What's wrong?" Sora asked in concern.

"I'm missing my shoe," she said with a sad expression.

"Don't worry I can carry you," he said with a smile. Before she could react Sora slung her over his left shoulder and began to run towards what he hoped to be a way out.

**VvV**

Xion stared at the giant heartless in front of her with a stoic expression. The heartless had multiple wounds around its body but it wouldn't go down. Xion on the other hand didn't even have a scratch. She just stared at the heartless without any emotion while the heartless roared at her. It then charged at her and she simply raised her right hand and pointed it at the heartless' approaching figure.

"Fire," she muttered as a fireball came out of her hand and pushed back the approaching heartless. Xion was a bit tired since the heartless wouldn't go down with any of her attacks. She had been attacking it head on but it wouldn't go down. She knew that if this kept up she wouldn't be able to use even the simplest of magic, which is why she decided to finish it in one blow. As the heartless rose to its feet Xion began to gather all of her remaining energy. With a roar the heartless charged at her at a fast speed. Xion was taking a great risk because if she didn't attack at the precise moment then her attack would miss and in order to do so she had to be close to the heartless.

"Almost," Xion muttered as she kept her eyes fixed on the heartless. When it was a few feet away it prepared its metal arm to strike her but Xion simply smirked. "Trinity," she muttered as the ground beneath the heartless let out a bright flash that enveloped the heartless completely immobilizing it. The heartless was completely surrounded by bright light that didn't let a trace of darkness enter. This was one of Xion's most powerful attacks, Trinity. It consisted of creating an impenetrable barrier of light that would surround the opponent and later explode when given the command.

"Break," Xion muttered as the light barrier became smaller and suddenly exploded in a bright flash that illuminated the whole forest. When the light died down Xion saw that there were no remains of the heartless. Relieved she sat on the ground in complete exhaustion. She only hoped that everyone else could handle themselves because despite appearances she cared for them all.

**VvV**

Kairi, Roxas, Namine and Hayner walked through the cave with worried expressions. They had heard and seen the bright flash that came from Xion's fight and hoped that she was safe. The flash had illuminated the cave for a few seconds and the group noticed that some of the cave's wall was covered in steel, a sign that someone was using it. So far they had seen no sign of Sora and were getting worried.

"Dammit is Sora even here?" Roxas asked, clearly irritated to be walking around in a dark cramped cave.

"This is probably where he is," Kairi said as they continued to walk. Soon they reached a metal door.

"Should we open it?" Namine asked. For some reason she didn't trust a door that was inside a cave.

"Yeah there's no other way to go," Roxas said as he began to open the door. They walked into a dark room and suddenly the room lit up. The group shielded their eyes from the unexpected light. When they opened them they saw that they were in a large circular room with metal walls and a single door on the other side.

"Let's keep going," Kairi said as the group began to run towards the door but stopped when it started to open.

"Get ready," Roxas said as he summoned his keyblades and got into a battle position. The girls readied themselves for battle and the door slammed open but no one came in.

"Oh my, looks like we have intruders," a dark feminine voice said from behind them. The group turned and was met with a woman, probably in her thirties, with black hair. She wore a black dress under a white lab coat. She had an amused expression on her face as she eyed the group.

"Who are you?" Roxas asked with a scowl.

"My name is Kamiko. Hideaki and I run our experiments here but that useless fool was defeated so I had to kill him," Kamiko said with a smile. The group shuddered at the creepy smile and the way she admitted to have killed. "I suppose I should thank that kid since I grew tired of that fool."

"What do you want with us?" Kairi asked with a frown.

"You invade my lab and you ask what I want with you?" Kamiko said with an amused expression. "I am here to kill you for trespassing."

"W-what?" Namine choked out.

"You have seen too much of my lab and I can't let anybody know that I am here," Kamiko said with a twisted smile.

"Then we have no choice but to fight," Roxas said.

"Very well let's see what you can do," Kamiko said with a smug look. "Maybe you'll be worthy as lab specimens."

"Shut up!" Roxas yelled as he charged at Kamiko. She simply raised her hand and fired a fireball, only to have it blocked by an invisible barrier. Kamiko snarled and fired a strong wind spell that shattered the barrier. She then charged at Roxas with fire surrounding her fists. Kairi fired a wind spell that made the fire explode in Kamiko's hands. Kamiko was thrown back and groaned at the pain caused by the explosion. She had truly underestimated the kids and she was paying for it.

"We're not done," she said through a growl. She ran to Namine at an incredible speed and knocked the wind out of her with a punch to the gut. She proceeded to fire a point blank fireball but was tackled away by Roxas. Kamiko looked up and saw a large fireball coming towards her and jumped away. She fired a thunder spell at Kairi but she managed to dodge. She tried to fire another spell but Roxas slashed both of her shoulders with his keyblades. She screamed in pain and pushed Roxas back with a strong wind spell.

Roxas was thrown back and hit the wall, hard. He got the wind knocked out of him and he fell on his ankle. He cried in pain and a worried Namine ran to his aid, leaving Kairi with no back up. Kamiko took this opportunity and charged at Kairi. Kairi saw Kamiko approaching and fired a strong wind spell that threw Kamiko back several feet.

"That is it!" Kamiko screamed in anger. She then took out a strange sword from under her coat. The sword was green and had a red hilt, it was a normal looking sword but the color made it suspicious. "I've been holding back, but no more!" She fired a large fireball at Kairi from her sword. Kairi didn't have time to react and closed her eyes in anticipation. When no pain came she opened her eyes to see a light barrier in front of her.

"Don't worry Kairi I got this," Namine said with a smile. Kamiko simply chuckled and ran towards the barrier. Taking everyone by surprise she broke the barrier with her sword and ran straight for Kairi. Everyone's heart stopped when they saw Kamiko's sword about to strike a defenseless Kairi. Kairi's breath caught on her throat when she saw the sword right in front of her.

The sound of metal of metal filled the room and they were relieved to see Sora with his keyblade locked with Kamiko's sword. Sora was glaring daggers at Kamiko and with great force pushed her back and slashed her torso. Kamiko cried in pain and Sora proceeded to kick her on the chest.

"Sora," Kairi said with tears in her eyes.

"Hey there," Sora said with a smile. He turned to see Roxas and Namine clearly tired from fighting. "Get out of here guys."

"You can't fight her alone," Kairi said with a frown.

"I'm sorry Kairi but you guys have to take Akira out of here," Sora said with an apologetic look. Kairi turned to see Akira standing near the door where they had come from. "Besides, I'm more than capable of handling her."

"But-" Kairi started but was interrupted by Sora.

"No buts Kairi. You have to make sure Akira is safe and I'll be alright, I promise," he said with a smile.

"Fine," Kairi said after a moment of silence. "You better come back safe." With that she went to Roxas and Namine who hesitantly agreed to leave the cave.

"Now," Sora said once the group was gone. "We can fight in peace."

"Do you really think you're a match for me? Look at you, you're clearly tired," Kamiko said with a growl.

"You're in no better condition than me," Sora said with a grin.

"Fool," Kamiko said as she took out a bottle with a green liquid. "This liquid not only heals my injuries but it also enhances my power." She then brought the bottle to her lips and began to drink the strange liquid.

"What is she doing?" Sora muttered to himself with a frown. Kamiko's body began to shake violently and some of her physical features began to change. Her hair was turning light silver, her skin got a little darker and her eyes turned a dark red.

"Ahhh I can feel the power running through my veins," Kamiko said with a dark smile. "Now we can start with round two."

"I don't care what you did to yourself. I'm taking you down and putting an end to this," Sora said with an angry expression.

"We'll see about that, boy," Kamiko said and before Sora knew it she was right in front of him with the tip of her sword to his neck. "You should just surrender yourself boy." With that she punched Sora with unbelievable strength, sending him sailing through the air. Sora fell in the ground with a loud thud and felt some of his ribs breaking from the impact.

"Damn," Sora said through gritted teeth as he stood back up, wincing at the pain. He gripped his keyblade harder and dashed at Kamiko. He swung at the woman only for his attack to be blocked by her blade. Kamiko shook her head and kicked Sora away. Sora landed on his feet but was struck by a large dark fireball. Sora cried in pain and jumped away from the fire but while he was on the air he was kicked to the ground by Kamiko.

"Truly pathetic," Kamiko said with a sigh as she approached Sora, who was in the ground gasping in pain. She then put a foot on Sora's chest and began to put pressure, enjoying Sora's cries of pain. "Scream you worthless fool." She started to stomp on Sora's chest while he continued to cry in agony. She suddenly stopped when she noted that the white part of Sora's eye had begun to turn black.

_**Do you want to die?**_

_No_

_**Do you want to win?**_

_Yes_

_**Do you want more power?**_

_Yes_

_**Then surrender yourself!**_

_W-what?_

Maniacal laughter filled the room and a pure black aura slammed Kamiko to the wall. The black aura filled the entire room and began to break parts of the wall. Kamiko knew that if this kept up the whole cave would collapse. Thankfully the aura stopped and Kamiko looked with wide eyes at the smiling Sora. His hair had turned black, he had two fangs, the left side of his face was pitch black and his eyes were black with bright yellow pupils.

"**You're truly a crazy bitch," **heartless Sora said with a twisted smile. "**I like your style but you picked the wrong opponent."**

"What are you?" Kamiko asked with an amused smile.

"**I'm a freaking blue dinosaur. What the hell do you think I am?" **heartless Sora said as he began to think of ways to have fun with his victim.

"If I had to guess I would say that you're a heartless," Kamiko said with a smirk. "But don't you think that your anywhere near my level you weakling fool."

"**Hahahaha do you seriously think you can talk down to me?" **heartless Sora said with a sadistic look on his face. "**Your nothing but a pile of dirt compared to me and you dare think that you're stronger than me. I'll enjoy sending you to hell." **Sora's keyblade became enveloped by the same black aura and when it died down a pure black version of it with a longer chain took its place.

"You talk big just because you've changed your weapon," Kamiko said with a smile. Heatless Sora simply smirked and before Kamiko knew what hit her she heartless Sora was behind her and she had many wounds around her body. She couldn't believe that in less than a second Sora had left her at this state. "What are you?"

"**I'm your nightmare," **the heartless responded before dashing towards Kamiko while laughing hysterically.

**Ch. 18 End**

**I'm glad I'm done with this chapter. The fighting scenes were the hardest to write and I hope that they came out okay. I would like to thank you guys for all of the reviews, they inspired me to bring the chapter. The next chapter will mark the end of this little filler and I hope that you liked it. If you think that some things haven't been explained yet don't worry because everything will be explained when we get back to the main story.**


	19. Finally Over

**Sorry for the long wait but here's the next chapter. This will be the last chapter of the filler and we'll be back onto the main story next chapter. I can't way to write the next chapters because there will be a little bit of everything and we'll get to see just a pinch of Sora's past.**

**Kingdom Hearts: Slave of Love**

**Ch. 19 Finally Over**

Kairi, Roxas, Akira, Namine and Hayner ran through the caves trying to ignore the sound of battle coming from the other direction. They didn't want to put Akira in danger by going back to help Sora but the loud noises and small tremors weren't helping their cause. The group had seen a lot of darkness coming from the room where Sora was a few minutes earlier. They didn't know what that had been and were worried about Sora's safety but they knew that Sora would just tell them to leave again. Everyone was planning on leaving Akira with Xion and then going back to help Sora. The idea of breaking into groups had crossed their minds but they decided against it since it would be an unnecessary risk.

They could now see the exit and increased their pace. Outside they were greeted by a tired looking Xion and a large burn mark on the ground. That explained were the light had come from when they had gone to look for Sora. Xion walked towards the group and got a relieved look when she saw Akira with the group.

"Xion we need you to do something," Roxas said through pants.

"What is it?" Xion asked emotionlessly.

"We need you to take Akira to the hot springs while we go help Sora," Hayner said with a look of seriousness on his face.

"Is he in trouble?" Xion asked in light concern.

"Well he-" Kairi started but was interrupted by a loud explosion coming from the mountain. The group turned around and saw that a large hole had been made in the mountain. Two figures emerged from the hole, one was a now silver-haired Kamiko and the other was a kind of heartless. The two figures were clashing with tremendous force and soon disappeared on the tall trees.

"What was that thing?" Roxas asked with wide eyes.

"That was a heartless wasn't it?" Namine asked with a troubled expression.

"That was Sora," Kairi muttered with a sad expression.

"W-what?" Hayner asked with a gasp. "That can't be Sora."

"Why is he like that?" Akira asked with tears building up in her eyes.

"When he got the keyblade it came with a cost," Kairi said with her gaze on the floor. "He developed an inner heartless that can posses him at times."

"An inner heartless?" Roxas asked in disbelief. "Wait! Does that mean I'll have one?"

"No," Namine responded. "You won't get one because when you give someone a keyblade the Special has to eliminate the heartless living inside it before a normal person touches it."

"That's a relief but…will Sora get control back?" Roxas asked in concern.

"I don't know," Kairi said with a sad look. "I've never seen him turn to that extent. Before he would only get part of his face covered in darkness but now his whole body is that of a heartless."

"But why did he transform? I don't think that he just randomly transformed," Hayner said with a frown.

"From what I've seen and what my brother has told me. I think that he transforms when his life is in danger," Kairi said.

"That doesn't change anything," Roxas said with a grin. The group gave him a confused look but he dismissed it and gazed at the sky with a determined expression. "Sora and I have been friends, no, brothers for a very long time. We even promised each other to always have each other's back and just because he transformed into that it doesn't mean that I'll break that promise."

"You're right, just because he doesn't have control doesn't mean that we'll desert him,"  
Hayner said with a smirk. Roxas nodded with a smile and looked at the rest of the group with a determined face.

"What do you guys think?" Roxas asked with a grin.

"I might not have known him for as long as you have but I'll help him," Namine said with a smile.

"What about you Kairi?" Roxas asked the redhead.

"Do you even need to ask?" Kairi asked with a smile.

"Let's go help him!" Hayner exclaimed with a look of excitement on his face.

"I won't be able to go," Xion said emotionlessly.

"What?" Namine asked in disbelief.

"It's not that I don't want to help. I have lost a lot of energy fighting that heartless," Xion said with a disappointed look. "I wish I could help though."

"We understand," Kairi said with a smile. "Besides someone has to inform the other of what's happening and take Akira back."

"Do I have to? I want to go help Sora," Akira said with a pout.

"Sorry Akira but you have to go," Kairi said with an apologetic look. "We all want you to be safe so please go with Xion."

"Okay," Akira said with a downcast. She turned to walk with Xion before looking back at Kairi. "Please make sure he's safe." Kairi nodded and waved good-bye to the little girl.

"Now we can go," Roxas said with a determined look on his face.

"Let's go help Sora," Namine said with a smile.

"Finally, I was looking forward to a good fight," Hayner said in excitement.

"Let's go," Kairi said with a nod. The group ran towards the area where they had seen Heartless Sora disappear with the same goal in mind, save Sora from Kamiko and himself.

**VvV**

-_Flashback few minutes ago_-

_Maniacal laughter filled the room and a pure black aura slammed Kamiko to the wall. The black aura filled the entire room and began to break parts of the wall. Kamiko knew that if this kept up the whole cave would collapse. Thankfully the aura stopped and Kamiko looked with wide eyes at the smiling Sora. His hair had turned black, he had two fangs, the left side of his face was pitch black and his eyes were black with bright yellow pupils. _

"_**You're truly a crazy bitch," **__heartless Sora said with a twisted smile. "__**I like your style but you picked the wrong opponent."**_

"_What are you?" Kamiko asked with an amused smile. _

"_**I'm a freaking blue dinosaur. What the hell do you think I am?" **__heartless Sora said as he began to think of ways to have fun with his victim._

"_If I had to guess I would say that you're a heartless," Kamiko said with a smirk. "But don't you think that your anywhere near my level you weakling fool."_

"_**Hahahaha do you seriously think you can talk down to me?" **__heartless Sora said with a sadistic look on his face. "__**Your nothing but a pile of dirt compared to me and you dare think that you're stronger than me. I'll enjoy sending you to hell." **__Sora's keyblade became enveloped by the same black aura and when it died down a pure black version of it with a longer chain took its place._

"_You talk big just because you've changed your weapon," Kamiko said with a smile. Heatless Sora simply smirked and before Kamiko knew what hit her heartless Sora was behind her and she had many wounds around her body. She couldn't believe that in less than a second Sora had left her at this state. "What are you?"_

"_**I'm your nightmare," **__the heartless responded before dashing towards Kamiko while laughing hysterically. _

"_I won't be defeated!" Kamiko exclaimed as she fired a black wind spell at Heartless Sora. The wind spell pushed him back but he used a wind spell of his own to counter the dark wind. Due to the two different wind pressures a large dark tornado was formed in the room. "You're a Special too?"_

"_**Stop asking stupid questions and fight!" **__with that Heartless Sora jumped inside the tornado. Kamiko was taken by surprise, she hadn't expected him to do that. It was simply way too stupid to jump inside a tornado so she knew that he was planning something bad (well for her). _

"_**DIE!"**__ Heartless Sora yelled from inside the tornado as he fired a bunch of blizzard spells. Due to the tornado spinning Sora at a high speed the blizzards spells were fired at almost every direction at once. Kamiko tried to dodge but was struck on her torso and thrown back against a wall. Before she attempted to get up she saw another chunk of ice coming her way. She countered with a fire spell that destroyed the blizzard in a second. She then gathered her strength and fired a large fireball at the tornado. The tornado became surrounded by flames and pretty soon the heat the wind was giving off was unbearable. _

"_**Damn you!" **__Heartless Sora exclaimed in rage when he felt the heat take a toll on his body. He began to try and dispel the tornado with some magic spells but it proved to be completely useless. "__**I won't lose!" **__his body became surrounded in a dark purple aura and he screamed as it surrounded him. The tornado was dispelled due to the large amount of dark aura that came from inside it and Kamiko could only stare in disbelief._

"_How did you do that?" Kamiko said through gritted teeth but gasped when she saw what stood where the tornado had been. It was a human sized heartless with a hole in its chest, dark claws for fingers, bird looking dark fee and it gripped a two dark keyblades. One had a black hilt that appeared to be shaped as a heart and the blade was pure black with the tip having three black spikes. The other keyblade was similar to Sora's normal one but had several differences; it had a blood red hilt, the blade was black and it was surrounded in purple aura._

"_What are you?" Kamiko asked with a frighten look. The heartless roared in anger and was surrounded by the same purple aura. This time however it gathered around him and exploded with a great force. Kamiko was thrown back and landed with a painful thud, she stood up only to be met by the heartless. She had to admit that the heartless head was what frighten her the most, it was all covered in darkness with only the right side still looking normal and the hair had turned a dark black._

_The heartless roared again and picked Kamiko up by the hair. Kamiko cried in pain and stabbed at the heartless only to have him jump back, letting go of her, and jumping several feet away. The heartless raised his hand and aimed at Kamiko, she stared at the heartless in wonder until she saw a dark purple sphere form on the palm of its hand. The heartless fired a large dark beam that broke through the walls of the mountain. Kamiko had had enough and figured that fighting the heartless in an open space would be better so she jumped out of the hole in hopes of finding a way to beat the heartless._

_The heartless jumped after Kamiko and roared in anger. It saw Kamiko running towards a nearby clearing surrounded by trees and jumped towards it with great force. As Kamiko ran she stopped dead on her tracks when she saw the heartless land in front of her with his weapons readied for battle. _

_-End Flashback—_

With an annoyed growl Kamiko charged at the heartless with her sword raised high. She brought it down on the heartless that simply blocked with his keyblade. She tried to push him back but was painfully reminded that he had another keyblade when he inflicted a wound on her ribs. Kamiko cried in pain and jumped away from the heartless. She touched her wound and winced at the pain but was forced to raise her sword to block and upcoming attack from the heartless. The heartless roared and started to swing wildly as Kamiko tried to block but to no avail. She received several wounds throughout most of her bodies and was finally thrown away when Heartless Sora kicked her with great force. She slammed into a tree painfully and coughed up blood before falling on the ground.

Kamiko stood up slowly and saw the heartless was simply staring at her as if amused. That's when she got the intentions of the heartless and she tried not to cry out in fear at her predicament. The heartless was simply toying with her, it had the strength to kill her in a second but it was simply enjoying making her suffer. She began to tremble in fear when she saw the heartless approach and was about to scream in fear until she heard a loud voice coming from the forest. The heartless turned towards the voice and Kamiko saw her opportunity. With whatever strength she had left, she charged at the heartless and brought her sword down on its arm. The blade made it through the arm but Kamiko was devastated when she saw that it appeared to have no effect on it. The cut left a wound no smaller than a paper cut.

The heartless turned to Kamiko with intent to kill and raised both his keyblades to end Kamiko's life. As it brought the keyblades it growled in anger when it saw that his keyblades had been stopped by another pair of keyblades.

"Stop it Sora," Roxas said with a frown. He had gotten there just in time to stop Sora from doing something he would regret for the rest of his life. Kamiko thanked the diversion and moved away from the two.

"Sora!" Kairi exclaimed as she Hayner and Namine got into the clearing.

"That is wicked," Hayner said while nodding his head.

"Idiot," Namine said with a roll of her eyes.

"Sora you have to go back to normal," Roxas said as he grimaced when he felt the heartless put pressure on the keyblades. The heartless growled slightly before dismissing its keyblades. "Thank you," Roxas said with a sigh of relief only to be slapped away by the heartless. The group stared at the heartless in disbelief as it began to walk towards the fallen Roxas. Roxas could only watch as the heartless neared him with unclear intentions. He knew that Sora would never hurt him but the heartless would. The heartless stood in front of the fallen Roxas and started to form a dark sphere on the palm of his hand. Roxas closed his eyes in anticipation but felt no pain come, he opened his eyes and saw that the heartless had stopped the attack and two arms were wrapped around its torso.

"Stop this Sora, please," Kairi said through teary eyes while hugging the heartless. The heartless' eyes widened and the darkness on its face started to disappear. Sora and Kairi were enveloped in a bright light for a few seconds and when it Roxas sighed in relief. A normal Sora was hugging Kairi with his eyes closed and a small smile on his face.

"I'm sorry," Sora muttered in a sad tone.

"It wasn't your fault," Kairi said while shaking her head.

"It was, I knew that I was too hurt to fight and it would take over after a while," Sora said with a guilty look. Kairi pulled away from the hug and held Sora's face on her hands with a frown on her face.

"Listen Sora, you didn't fight because you wanted to be taken over. You fought because you wanted to keep us safe and risked yourself to do so," Kairi said with a hurt look. "You don't have to risk yourself all the time, let us help you." Kairi pulled away from Sora's embrace and pointed at all of their friends. "We'll always be glad to help you Sora."

"Thank you," Sora said with a sad smile.

"Glad to have you back," Roxas said while standing up with the help of Namine and Hayner, who had come to his aid after Sora turned back to normal.

"Glad to be back," Sora said with a toothy grin.

"Awww, how sweet," Kamiko said with a bitter expression on her face. She was using a tree to support her standing form and was glaring daggers at Sora.

"Kamiko," Kairi said with a frown. Sora and Roxas summoned their keyblades and Hayner took a couple of throwing knives from the large pockets on his cargo shorts.

"You will pay for wounding me brat," Kamiko said with her gaze on Sora. Kamiko was not stupid so the moment she saw all of the teens ready to attack she knew that she had little chance of winning. In order to win she would have to separate them but how could she if she was in a clearing. Even if she knew the surrounding better than they did she knew that she wouldn't be able to run away and formulate a plan and that's when she was hit by a brilliant idea, everything would be decided here.

"Earth," Kamiko said with a smirk. The ground beneath her and Sora's feet rose high in the air, creating a semi-large ground high in the sky. Kamiko praised her idea and gripped her sword tightly. "Can you fight without your friends? You're all alone now and I will kill you before you turn into that beast again.

"I'm not alone," Sora said with a smile. "Just because my friends are not here doesn't mean that I'm alone. My friends are always with me! Aqua taught me that when friends make bonds they become a small part of each others hearts. That is why I'm not alone and never will be."

"You fool, how can you believe such nonsense? I'll end your pitiful existence this instant!" Kamiko snapped before charging at Sora. She swung at the teen but he blocked with his keyblade. She began to swing her sword at a fast speed but all of the blows were blocked by Sora. Kamiko swung again only to be blocked by Sora's keyblade. The two had their weapons locked and Kamiko smirked. "Wind," she muttered before a large gust of wind flew out of her hand. Sora was thrown back and fell off the high platform.

"Damn!" Sora yelled as he fell. He managed to dig his keyblade into the high wall of the platform and avoid his death. "That was a close one." He began to climb up the high wall by jumping up and stabbing his keyblade into the wall. Each time he grew closer and when he saw the end he used all of his strength to jump.

"It should be easy to deal with the other fools," Kamiko muttered to herself but stopped when she saw Sora land on the ground with a roll. "Wha-" she started but was cut off when she saw that Sora had thrown his keyblade at her. She managed to duck before the keyblade chopped her head off but didn't expect the keyblade to act as a boomerang and make a deep wound on her ribs. She gasped in pain and glared at the frowning Sora.

"I won't lose," Sora said flatly with his keyblade gripped on his left hand.

"Damn you," Kamiko said with a furious expression. She then became surrounded in a dark violet aura and prepared her weapon. "I'm tired of this; I'll kill you in one blow."

"You're the one who's going down. I don't plan on dying yet!" Sora exclaimed with an angry look. His clothes started to change into a silver color and his eyes too had become silver. _Everyone, _he thought as he readied his keyblade. _I won't fail you, I promise you. No matter what happens I will WIN! _With a cry of battle Sora ran at Kamiko with a silver aura surrounding his whole body.

Silver and dark violet crashed in a big explosion and smoke filled the area. The high ground began to descend until it was at normal level again. When the smoke clear a wounded Sora was lying on the ground with his eyes closed and an equally wounded Kamiko laid on the ground with blood coming out of her mouth and most of her right arm burned.

Kairi ran at Sora to check on his wounds and scold him for being an idiot. She didn't know a lot of healing magic but she would use all that she knew to help get Sora better. Looking at his wounds she noted that they weren't life threatening and he was simply exhausted. Kairi sighed in relief and looked up to see Roxas and Namine kneeling next to Sora's body.

"How is he?" Roxas asked with a frown.

"He's okay. I think he strained himself and now is completely exhausted," Kairi said with a nod of her head.

"Shouldn't we take him to a hospital?" Namine asked.

"I don't think so," Kairi said with a shake of her head. "You and I know some healing magic and I'm pretty sure that Xion is a pro at it so he'll be okay."

"Good now all we have to do is wait for Hayner," Roxas said with a relieved expression.

"Where did he go?" Kairi asked, funny how she only noticed his absence.

"He went to alert the local authorities. I'm pretty sure that Kamiko will be put away for a long time," Namine said while glaring at Kamiko's unconscious body.

"I hope so, the things she did were horrible," Kairi said with a frown. She then turned back to Sora's body and cast a healing spell. "Mind giving me a hand Namine?"

"Sure," Namine said as she cast a slightly larger healing spell on Sora.

Roxas chuckled lightly when she saw the amount of worry and determination on Kairi's eyes. He knew that the girl had feelings for Sora but he didn't know if she was aware of them. What he did know was that his friend had a better life here.

"You found friends here too," he muttered to himself and eyed the girls. He couldn't help but remember the first time he had met them and chuckled. "Even if they're crazy women."

"What?" came the simultaneous voices of Kairi and Namine with their eyes flashing in anger.

"I…am…dead," Roxas said while laughing like an idiot.

**VvV**

Sora woke up to the sound of whispers. He wondered where he was for a minute but immediately remembered his fight with Kamiko. He opened his eyes but closed them immediately due to the burning light coming from the window. Sora braced himself and began to slowly opened his eyes.

"Sora?" Kairi questioned when she saw him begin to stir and open his eyes. She couldn't help but hug the teen when he threw her a confused look. She would never admit it but she thought that he had the cutest confused look.

"Kairi? Where am I?" Sora asked while returning the hug. Kairi pulled away from the hug and smiled at Sora.

"You're in the hot springs," she responded. "After you fought Kamiko you blacked out so we took you here to heal your wounds."

"How long was I out?" he asked with a yawn.

"You were asleep for three days," Kairi said with an amused expression. "I can't believe that you still look tired."  
"Three days!" he exclaimed in panic. "Then that means…"

"Yup! It means that we're going back home in a few minutes. Everyone is already waiting outside for you," she said with a smile.

"Oh man. I can't believe I wasted all my time sleeping!" Sora exclaimed with a pout.

"But it's what you love most isn't?" Kairi asked with an amused smile.

"No it isn't," Sora said with his arms crossed. "At least…not anymore," he muttered with a quick glance at Kairi.

"What did you say?" Kairi asked with a curious look.

"N-nothing!" he yelped. "I have to pack my things." With that Sora left the room unaware that he had been on the men's bedroom. Kairi giggled at Sora's antic and started to pack his things.

"Sora what will I do with you?" she asked herself with a small smile.

**VvV**

Sora had realized that he just left his room so when he went back he was surprised to see that all of his belongings had already been packed. He made a mental note to thank Kairi later be decided against it since she would always say that she didn't need his thanks and would make him do a bunch of chores. He had noticed that he hadn't been doing any of the chores he used to do when he first started living with Kairi. He was grateful that Kairi wasn't treating him like a possession anymore and felt like they had a connection.

These thoughts were dismissed when Sora got out and saw all of his friends standing near a carriage with their luggage already on it. Sora was a little confused as to why there was a carriage all the way up the mountain when it was said that everyone used the cable cars. He dismissed this thought and thought of his misfortune once again. He couldn't believe that he had slept through his entire trip and felt annoyed that everyone else looked all relaxed and happy. His annoyance grew when he saw Demyx walk up to him and give him a goofy smile.

"Glad to see you're awake," Demyx said with a smile as he patted Sora's back.

"Yeah, we thought that we had to leave without you," Hayner said with a grin.

"Ha ha ha. You're hilarious," Sora said as he passed his two friends and put his luggage inside the carriage.

"Why so grumpy Sora?" Selphie asked.

"Are you kidding? I slept for three whole days and the trip is now over," Sora said with a pout.

"Don't worry about it Sora," Roxas said with a smile. "Just because we got massages, relaxed at the hot springs and got free food, doesn't mean that you ruined the trip. Shouldn't you be happy that your friends had the time of their lives?" Sora glared at Roxas and thought of ways to humiliate him. Sora got an evil smirk on his face when he thought of the perfect thing.

"You guys want to hear the funniest story of Roxas and a dress?" Sora asked. Roxas stared at Sora wide-eyed and he couldn't help but get a smirk that would make Heartless Sora proud.

"Don't you dare," Roxas said through gritted teeth.

"I don't know Roxas. I'm feeling pretty daring today," Sora answered with a smirk.

"Tell us the story Sowa!" Akira exclaimed happily.

"Well you see this one time on Hollow Bastion we wanted to steal from a clothing store that had a pervert cashier. I noticed that he was keeping an eye on us so I had to improvise. I got Roxas to dress as a woman and- Wait a minute," Sora said, blurting out the last part. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm going with you!" Akira exclaimed happily. Sora's right eye twitched and he clenched his fists.

"Who was the moron, idiot, stupid person who-" Sora started but was cut off by Kairi who had gotten out of the hot springs.

"Finish that sentence Sora," Kairi said through gritted teeth.

"Who…who…who didn't agree with you! That's it! Who was the idiot who didn't agree with you?" Sora said with a nervous laugh.

"Idiot," Kairi muttered with a small smile.

"Now that everyone's here we can go!" Selphie yelled in excitement.

"Let's go," Olette said as she entered the carriage.

Soon the whole group was inside the carriage and the driver began to go down the mountain trail that the group had gone through when they arrived in the mountain.

"Why are we going this way? I thought that nobody used this road anymore," Sora said with a confused expression.

"Well thanks to you the road's being used again," Kairi said with a smile.

"What are you talking about?" Sora asked.

"After you fought with Kamiko, Hayner got the police to arrest her. She was charged with life in prison and was drained of all her powers. Since then the road has been used again," Roxas explained with a smile.

"I get it," Sora said with a smile. "I'm glad everything turned out for the best."

"Yeah and on top of that we're being viewed as heroes," Demyx said with a happy smile.

"But you didn't do anything," Hayner said with a frown.

"I did in my story," Demyx said with a proud look. Everyone sighed and sweatdropped at the never ending stupidity that came out of Demyx's mouth.

Sora chuckled and glanced at all of his friends. They were all laughing and Akira seemed to have forgotten all that had happened in that lab. Right now she was asking questions about her new home. Much to Sora's disappointment Kairi had agreed to make her sleep in her dorm room. Sora was not looking forward to living under the same roof as Akira. Sure he viewed the girl as a little sister but he knew that he would end up pulling his beloved spikes out of his hair in a week.

But seeing his friends happy made it all worth it. He was glad that they ended up safe but knew that things would get worse later on. Call it intuition; Sora knew that something bad was going to happen soon. As he watched his friends laughing and smiling he got a serious expression on his face and looked out the window.

_I will fight to keep those smiles on your faces, I promise, _he thought in conviction. He glanced back at his friends and saw a smiling Demyx babbling like an idiot, _maybe not his._

**Ch. 19 End**

**Whew, I'm glad that I'm finally done with the filler. I'm sorry it took a while to update but I've been playing Birth by Sleep most of the week. I'm now done with it and have even unlocked the secret movie (it was one of the best games I've ever played). I know that is no excuse but I hope I made up for it with this chapter. Look forward for the next chapter because from then on the story will only get better. **


	20. Keyblade Competition

**I'm re-posting this chapter because I thought that it could have been better. I'm halfway done with the next chapter so expect it done by tomorrow. Other explanations are on the bottom of the page.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts**

**Kingdom Hearts: Slave of Love**

**Ch. 20 Keyblade Competition**

It was around noon in Radiant Garden's shopping district. This part of Radiant Garden was filled with malls, small stores and restaurants. It occupied about ten blocks of town and was always filled with people and street performers. Today was no different and the streets were filled with all kinds of people wanting to spend their money or see some good entertainment.

Sora, Kairi and Akira walked through the shopping district's streets. Sora was carrying the stuff that had been bought while Kairi and Akira were eating sea-salt ice cream with happy expressions on their faces. Sora had been denied the ice cream because he had ignored both of the girls when a pretty girl with a skirt fell and flashed everyone on the street. Sora was a hormonal teenager and like every other male in the area he turned his attention to the beautiful girl. When Kairi saw this she shocked Sora with her remote and made him carry all of their bags.

The trio was on their way back to Kairi's since they had to stop by Namine's to talk about any details about their stay. So far Roxas, Hayner and Demyx didn't have a problem with staying in Radiant Garden. Roxas because Sora would stay and he didn't want to go back to being a common thug in Hollow Bastion. Hayner wanted to stay because there were more forests and places to explore in Radiant Garden. Demyx would stay because he had befriended the lady that had given him a cookie and was now getting them daily. The two that were hesitant to stay were Terra and Aqua. Terra had said that he didn't mind living in Hollow Bastion and that it would make him tougher if he lived there. Aqua had similar ideals except for the tough part but she said that she couldn't take the positive attitude that most people on Radiant Garden had. Sora hoped to get his two friends to stay because they were, along with Roxas, his first friends. He couldn't imagine what would've happened if he hadn't met Terra, Aqua and Roxas when he did, though he had met Aqua first he knew that it wasn't just Aqua that had taken him out of the nightmare he used to live. Terra and Roxas had also helped him and together with Aqua the three became the reason why Sora was still here.

Erasing those thoughts from his head Sora focused on the task he had to accomplish, get Terra and Aqua to stay. With an astonished expression Sora realized that the streets weren't nearly as crowded anymore which meant that they were coming out of the shopping district. As he walked a poster caught his attention. The poster had two crossed keyblades and the word competition stood out in a bright yellow color.

"What's that?" Sora asked Kairi whose only response was a glare. "Come on, you're not still mad are you?"

"What do you think?" Kairi growled with her arms crossed. "You were drooling at the sight of that bimbo."

"I wasn't drooling. I was just looking for a way to help the lady up before you got mad and shocked me," Sora said in defense. Kairi just huffed and turned away from Sora with a pout. Akira watched the two fighting teens in slight amusement. In the short time she had met them they had become the family that she never had.

"Whatever Sora," Kairi said as she avoided Sora's glaze.

"You still haven't answered my question," Sora said.

"What question?" Kairi sighed.

"What's that poster about?" he asked while pointing at the poster. Kairi went over to the poster and got a smile on her face.

"I know of a way you can make it up to me," she said happily.

"Really?" Sora asked with a nervous smile, the time he had spent with Kairi told him that when she was happy something horrible would happen to him.

"Yep. You're going to enter the master of the keyblade contest and win me that ruby ring," Kairi said with a smile.

"A keyblade contest?" Sora asked while scratching his head.

"It's a contest in which people with keyblades fight each other one on one in a sort of tournament. The winner this year will get two new key chains for their keyblade and a beautiful ruby ring," she said with a glimmer on her eyes.

"That sounds cool!" Sora exclaimed in excitement. "A tournament full of people with keyblades has got to be one of the funest things I will ever do!"

"We have to make sure you win though," Kairi said with a smile.

"Isn't he already good at fighting? I mean he saved us from the bad guys in the mountain, didn't he?" Akira asked in confusion.

"Yeah he's good but there will be people who have used keyblades for almost all their lives," Kairi explained.

"So I'll need some training," Sora said with an understanding expression.

"That's right," Kairi said with a smile.

"But I don't have anyone to train me, should I just train by myself?" Sora asked.

"Don't worry I'll find somebody by tomorrow," Kairi answered. Sora nodded in agreement and the trio continued on its way to drop off what they had bought and going to Namine's.

**VvV**

Two figures could be seen on top of a building in downtown Radiant Garden. The building was about six stories high and many pedestrians could be seen walking on the streets.

"A keyblade competition?" said a hooded figure with dark yellow eyes and a few spikes of his silver hair covering part of his face.

"Yes it will be in a couple of weeks, you should get ready," said a dark skinned bald headed man with a beard and dark orange eyes.

"Why should I waste my time in a meaningless competition," the hooded figure said. The other man simple chuckled at his apprentice's arrogance.

"Don't be a fool Riku. We're not going there because of the competition, we're going there because an old 'friend' of mine will be there," the man said with a smirk.

"That is your business not mine," Riku responded.

"But it is your business. You said that the slave had a keyblade which means…" the man said as he motioned Riku to continue.

"The bastard will be there," Riku said with a dark smirk. "Very well I'll go."

"Good," the man said with an amused expression. "I'll send someone to sign you up while I continue to teach you the ways of darkness."

"Very well," Riku said before he and the man disappeared in a dark portal.

**VvV**

As Sora, Kairi and Akira walked back to the school grounds they were greeted by the sight of a fight going on. Well not exactly a fight, more like a bunch of goons ganging up on a man. The goons were all muscle heads, one had a scar on his check and black bushy hair, the other had his right ear pierced and was bald and the last good had brown hair and a thin mustache. The man they were ganging up on had black combed hair, an eye patch on his left eye and wore a large red coat over. He wore a black shirt and cream baggy pants under the coat that reached his ankles.

Sora took a closer look at the man and noticed that it was the same man who had helped him a couple of weeks ago. Sora prepared to help the man but his eyes widened when he took out a sword and knocked all of the men unconscious with the hilt of the sword. With a growl the man put away the sword and turned to walk away only to find that three kids were standing in front of him with their mouths agape.

"Move," he said as he made his way to where Sora, Kairi and Akira stood. Not wanting any trouble Kairi moved away with Akira and motioned Sora to move but he didn't budge. Instead he grinned a little and pointed at the man.

"You're Auron right?" Sora asked with a smile.

"Who's asking?" Auron answered with a bored expression on his face.

"Don't you remember me? You helped me when some guy was trying to beat me up," Sora explained with a smile.

"I don't remember you. There are too many kids getting their asses kicked that I lost count of how many times I had to help them, how do you expect me to remember a single one?" Auron asked with a frown. "They're all pathetic to me and you're no different."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora snapped.

"That you're a pathetic idiot who needs protection from weaklings," Auron said as he moved past Sora. Sora turned around with an angry expression and ran in front of Auron.

"I'll prove you wrong," Sora said as he pointed a finger at Auron. "I'll fight you right now."  
"Easy kid I don't fight idiots," Auron said.

"I'm not an idiot," Sora said with anger on his face. "I'll prove that your wrong with a fight."

"Very well," Auron said with a sigh. "Come at me."

"Fine but let's put a little wager on this fight," Sora said with a smirk. "If you lose you'll have to train me for the upcoming keyblade competition and if you win then I'll never bother you again.

"Hold on a minute," Auron said with a frown. "Let's change some things. If I win you'll have to pay me one-thousand munny and if I lose then I'll contemplate the idea of training you."

"Fine," Sora said with a frown. "Let's go somewhere else; it's too crowded in here." Sora led Auron to a clearing that stood not far from the road. Kairi and Akira followed the two and stood a good distance away, not wanting to be caught in the cross fire.

"On your call," Auron said as he took out his sword and got into a battle stance.

"Now!" Sora yelled as he summoned his keyblade and ran at Auron. Sora swung his keyblade at Auron's midsection only to have it blocked. In one sweep motion Auron pushed Sora away and slashed his left arm, leaving a sound that covered most of his arm.

"You're too hasty, that could cost you your life in battle," Auron said. He then charged at Sora intending to end the fight but what came next surprised him. Sora jumped above him and swiped his shoulders before landing behind them, all in less than five seconds. Sora prepared to swing his keyblade at Auron's back but froze when Auron turned around and pointed the tip of his sword to his face.

"You lose," Auron said. Sora moved a couple of step backs and gasped at how close to death he had gotten. "You're good for a kid."

"Thanks I think," Sora said with a small grin.

"Be in the school gates tomorrow at six in the morning," Auron said before starting to walk away.

"Wait, what?" Sora asked in confusion.

"If you want to be my pupil then be here at six, we'll hit the road and be back in time for the competition," Auron said as he continued to walk away.

"Thank you!" Sora yelled at Auron's retreating form. "I landed myself a cool teacher," he muttered to himself with a grin that soon disappeared when he remembered that Auron had told him that he had to leave.

"Sora?" came a sweet voice behind him. Sora turned to see Kairi and Akira with sad looks on their faces.

"Kairi! I…umm," Sora muttered with a worried look on his face.

"Don't worry about it," Kairi said with a sad smile. "I told you that you needed training didn't I?"

"What? You can't let him leave!" Akira exclaimed with an angry look on her face.

"Don't worry I'll be back before you know it," Sora said with a smile. Akira turned her gaze to the ground and hugged Sora's leg. Sora smiled sadly before picking up the girl and sitting her on his shoulders.

"Come on! It's not like I'm gone yet. We can still have a great day," Sora said with a bright smile.

"You're right!" Akira exclaimed happily. Sora picked up the shopping bags and walked back to the road. "You okay?" he asked as he picked up the bags.

"I'm alright," Kairi said with a smile. "After all, I know you'll be back." Sora smiled at Kairi causing her to blush and look away. "It's not like you have anywhere else to live."

"Hey! I have you know that I had a great place at Hollow Bastion," Sora said with a pout. Kairi giggled at Sora before continuing on her way to her dorm.

**VvV**

After dropping off their bags Sora, Kairi and Akira had gone to Namine's. Kairi was a sad that Sora had to leave but hid it from him in order to not make him feel guilty. She knew that Sora was a little overprotective of his friends and would feel extremely guilty if he was the cause of any sadness. She thought that his selflessness was one of his greatest qualities and faults at the same time. She had found herself thinking of the brunette a lot more that she would have liked but it paid of. Now she was able to tell when Sora was lying and could tell what he was feeling on certain occasions. The thing that had been bugging her for some time now was that her brother had told her that he had used magic when he was on heartless form. She didn't know anything of Sora's past before he met Aqua so it was possible that he had been born in Radiant Garden as a Special. It didn't make sense to her as to why he ended up in Hollow Bastion but there was also the possibility of Sora gaining those powers from the heartless.

She dismissed those thoughts when she noticed that they were now in front of Namine's white door. The two-story large house stood proudly with the afternoon light bouncing off its white walls. Namine had always liked the color white, it was said to represent all kinds of pure emotions but if you knew Namine then you would know that was not the case.

The door was opened by a sweaty Roxas with a look of shock on his face. The trio gave him a questioning look but Roxas only shook his head and pointed behind him. Without a word the trio went into the house and onto the living room, only to wish they hadn't. Aqua, Namine, Terra, Hayner and even Xion were covering their eyes with a look of disgust while a happy looking Demyx was doing squats, clad only in a blue speedo with green thunder lines.

"What the hell?" Sora exclaimed as he quickly covered Akira's eyes. "There are kids here you idiot now cover Demyx junior over there," he continued with a look of disgust.

"You know I like to exercise like this," Demyx said with a pout as he got into a sit-up position. He began to do his routine exercise and everyone almost threw up at the sight of him.

"Dammit!" Sora said through gritted teeth. "Where's Aqua when you need her?"

"She's upstairs," Hayner responded with his gaze outside the window.

"Aqua!" Sora yelled in anger. Soon enough Aqua entered the room with a smile, happy to see that Sora had visited them. That smile turned into a serious expression, a frown and finally a look of disgust (all in under three seconds).

"What the hell!" Aqua exclaimed as she went over to Demyx and kicked him on the side. Demyx whimpered and crawled away, which only added to the Aqua's anger and disgust of everyone else. "Get dressed," she said with a kick to Demyx's butt. Demyx left to his room much to the relief of everyone.

"Thank you," everyone in the room said at the same time.

"How you've been?" Aqua asked Sora as she gave him a quick hug. Since she had met Sora he had become the brother she never had. She had been raised in an orphanage and escaped from the place at the age of five. Ever since, she developed street smarts and knew all of Hollow Bastion like the back of her hand. Even when she first left the orphanage she had a kind of instinct to keep herself away from harm. When she met Sora he had looked completely broken. The boy was only six and looked like he had been through a war. She had been ten at the time and so she decided to take care of him from then on out. At first Sora had been distant and would only talk in small sentences but after a while she got him to open up and thus typical Sora came to be.

"I've been great; we had a crazy time at the hot springs though. You should've come," Sora said with a smile.

"Hot springs aren't really my thing," she said with a small smile.

"Well I only went to the hot springs once while the rest of the trip consisted of fighting a bunch of weird creatures and two crazy scientists," Sora said with a grin. Sora cheered mentally when he saw the look of regret on Aqua's face.

"We can talk about that later," Kairi said with a sigh. "Didn't you have something important to tell them?"

"What?" Sora said with a bored expression. Kairi cleared her throat but Sora continued to stare at her in confusion, she then stepped on his foot with great force.

"What the hell was that for?" Sora said as he jumped on one foot while rubbing the other.

"You have to give them the news," Kairi said in a harsh whisper.

"Are you guys going out?" Hayner asked with a curious expression.

"Yay, I'm going to be an uncle," Demyx, now fully clothed, said as he entered the living room.

"WHAT!" Sora and Kairi yelled at the same time with blushes on their faces.

"Sora," Kairi said as she took hold of his neckline and started to shake him. "You were going to tell them about the competition."

"Oh yeah," Sora said when Kairi finally let him go.

"A competition?" Terra asked in interest.

"Yup but not just any competition. It's a keyblade competition meaning that we'll fight other keyblade wielders one on one.

"That sounds fun," Hayner said with a smirk. "Somebody sign me up."

"I'll participate too," Terra said with a smirk. "I want to see if Sora has improved on his swordplay.

"If you guys are signing up then me too," Roxas said with a smile.

"I guess I have no choice," Aqua said with a grin.

"But where do we sign up?" Roxas asked in confusion.

"Don't worry I'll get you guys signed up," Namine said with a smile. "It's just a simple call but it's required to have a keyblade in order to enter the competition."

"So we can't enter," Terra said with a sigh.

"Not until we get you guys keyblades," Namine said with a smile. This got the attention of Aqua, Terra and Hayner. "All I have to do is summon a keyblade for you to make your own."

"Looks like we're entering after all," Hayner said with a grin.

"I'll participate," came the voice of Xion who was reading a book on a chair near the window.

"This just got even better," Hayner said with a grin.

"What do you mean?" Terra asked with a raised brow.

"Xion is crazy strong! She took out a giant monster all by herself," Hayner said with an exited expression.

"There's something else I have to tell you," Sora said with a serious expression. The group gave the teen its attention for they knew that it was rare for Sora to be serious. "I'm going to be on the road until the competition starts."

"What? Where are you going?" Aqua asked in concern.

"I'll be leaving with a man named Auron to-" Sora started but was cut off by Demyx.

"I knew it! That one time when he wanted to name our band 'The Hearts' something told me that he would be leaving with a man sooner or later. Don't worry Sora you have our support," Demyx said with anime tears cascading down his face.. Aqua slapped the back of his head and motioned Sora to continue.

"I'll be going with a man named Auron to train. He said that the only way he would train me would be if I went on the road with him," Sora explained.

"Okay then," Roxas said with a grin. "That means that we'll have to train hard ourselves." The whole group agreed with Roxas. They were eager to improve their skills and couldn't wait for the competition to begin.

"It got kind of late didn't it?" Kairi asked the group. The group turned to the window and saw that it was indeed dark outside. "We should get going."

"Right," Sora said as he, Kairi and Akira made their way to the door. "I'll see you soon guys."

"You better watch it on the tournament," Terra said with a smirk. "I intend to win on our match."

"Don't dream about it," Sora replied with a smirk before leaving the house with his two roommates on his side.

**VvV**

Akira had fallen sleep on their way to Kairi's dorm and so she had been placed on the bed. Sora was currently taking off his black vest and shoes while Kairi was in the bathroom putting on her nightgown. With a content sigh Sora laid on the right side of the bed with his eyes clothes. He was looking forward to his training with Auron since he knew that the man had skill and appeared to have a lot of experience. He knew that he would miss this place, his friends, Akira and most of all Kairi. Sora didn't deny it anymore, he had fallen for the redhead. When, he didn't know. He still remembered when he had a small crush on Olette but that had completely disappeared as he got to spend more time with Kairi. Although he was true to his feelings, he didn't plan on telling Kairi. That would probably end with her rejecting him and then everything would be extremely awkward. He couldn't risk what he already had with the redhead, if he did it would most likely end in rejection and their connection would be broken, that would break him completely all over again. It had been a long time since he had experienced that amount of emotional pain and he was terrified of going through the pain again.

_I'll never forget those bastards for leaving me, _Sora thought with hatred on his face. He looked up when he saw the bathroom door open and smiled when he saw Kairi come out. He immediately forgot his troubles and focused on the redhead that was the focus of his thoughts lately.

"Move out of the way," Kairi whispered. Sora complied and got off the bed, letting Kairi lay next to Akira. He got back on the bed and put a blanket over all of them.

"Good night Kairi," Sora said as he turned his back on her.

"Good night Sora," she whispered. She was still sad that he would leave but knew that it was for his own good. She didn't know why but she felt that she would lose a part of herself when Sora left. She had gotten completely dependant on Sora and she didn't like it. Every time they were apart she would think of what he was doing or, in most occasions, if he was thinking of her. She would always course herself for thinking like this but now that he was about to leave she tried to understand what exactly she felt for the teen.

She would always hope to see him laugh and smile and when he got sad or serious she would too. Though she wouldn't admit it she would get jealous every time he would eye a girl passing by when they were walking through town. She turned her gaze to Sora and her heart started to beat faster and she found it a little hard to breathe. She froze when Sora turned to face the ceiling but relaxed when she saw that he was fast asleep. She smiled softly as she watched him sleep and grumble on occasions. She looked at his hair, his nose and finally his lips. For a reason she didn't understand her heart started to beat wildly and she had the urge to kiss him.

As she watched Sora's sleeping form she remembered all of the hardships he had to face because of her. Ever since she knew him, Sora had always gotten hurt while trying to protect someone. She really like this about Sora but it would hurt her when he would get hurt because of her. She thought back to all the things she had been guilty of like his inner heartless, his fights with Riku and his fight with Kamiko. He had always been there for her and she couldn't do anything but see him get hurt over and over again. She wanted this to change because he had become the most important person of her life.

With a sudden click on her mind everything came to place. Her feelings and thoughts finally landed on a conclusion that made her smile happily. She remembered all of the times she had spent with Sora and a lone tear escaped her eye.

"I love you," she whispered before leaning her head on his chest, listening to the hypnotic sound of his heartbeat, and falling sleep.

**Ch. 20**

**I hope that I fixed this chapter because I wan NOT happy with how it turned out. When I finished writing it I thought it was okay but after I posted it I saw all my mistakes and almost pulled out my hair in frustration. I want to bring you guys my best work and I really messed up this chapter. I guess that I'll need to start looking for a beta reader in order to make the story a little better. **

**Now I'll answer a question I got from my girlfriend and am pretty sure some of you have as well. "Why does Auron have an eye patch?" **

**My answer: "Why not?" **


	21. Training Begins

**Hey guys here's the next chapter of my story. Sorry that I didn't update when I said I would but some things came up. Anyway expect more updates soon.**

**Kingdom Hearts: Slave of Love**

**Ch. 21 Training Begins**

Auron and Sora were walking on the outskirts of Radiant Garden. They had gotten out of town through the North Gate which led towards a luscious green forest with many mountains in sight. It had taken them a few hours to make it out of town because the school was located on the Southeast part of Radiant Garden. Radiant Garden had four different gates out of town that were a great distance away from each other.

Auron had a stoic expression on his face as the two walked. He wasn't used to having company on his travels but he was a little eager to teach the teen. He had never had a pupil before so it would be nice to have someone pass on his legacy and Sora being already skilled was just icing on the cake.

Sora on the other hand had a small smile as he walked. He was exited to start his training with Auron and he was still thinking about what had happened earlier that day. He sighed happily as he thought of the events. It was a bittersweet thing to do since he had to say goodbye to his friends but Kairi had made that moment memorable. Sora grinned like an idiot and touched his lips.

"Thinking about your little girlfriend kid?" Auron asked with a smirk.

"What?" Sora asked with a blush. "I wasn't," he lied. "I'm just thinking about how the training's gonna go."

"Sure you were," Auron said as they continued to walk. He then eyed Sora's arms with a raised brow and shook his head.

"What's up?" Sora asked when he saw Auron looking at him.

"What's wrong is that your arms are nothing but bone kid," Auron said with a frown. "If you want to be good at swordplay then you have to have some muscle on those arms."

"I do have some muscle," Sora said with a pout.

"Whatever kid," Auron said with a small chuckle. "Here," he tossed a circular keychain with the number fifty on it to Sora. Sora caught it and held it to his face.

"What's this?" Sora asked while eying the keychain.

"It's a keychain for your keyblade, try it," Auron said with a smirk. Sora summoned his keyblade and applied the keychain only to be brought down by the weight of the blade.

"What…is this?" Sora asked as he tried to lift the keyblade. The whole keyblade had changed into a light grey color and the blade seemed a little bulkier.

"That keychain adds fifty pounds to your keyblade," Auron said. "I want you to carry it everywhere and to use it while training."

"Are you crazy? How am I supposed to do anything if I can't even lift this damned thing?" Sora asked with a frown.

"Take it easy kid, you're not the only one with a weighted weapon. My swords weighs about a hundred and fifty pounds and this is the lightest one I have," Auron said. Sora stared at him in awe and broke into a grin.

"Okay then I'll do it," Sora said as he lifted the keyblade and slung it over his shoulder.

"Umm kid," Auron said pointing at Sora's shoulder. Sora felt something warm run down his torso and arm.

"Dammit!" Sora yelled when he noticed that his shoulder was bleeding.

"This is going to be a long two weeks," Auron said with a sigh.

**VvV**

Kairi sat on Namine's comfortable couch with a smile on her face. She was currently alone since Namine had gone out with Roxas, Terra, Aqua and Hayner in order to give keyblades to the three that didn't have any. Kairi had declined to go because she wanted to think about what had happened earlier that day. She had acted on impulse and didn't regret what she had done; in fact she was proud of her bravery and happy because of the outcome. She sighed happily and didn't notice Namine entering the living room.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" Namine asked with a smile.

"N-nothing," Kairi said with a blush adorning her cheeks.

"It's something good, I can tell by your blush," Namine said in an exited voice. "Come on. Tell me why you in a good mood," she pleaded as she took a seat next to Kairi.

"Fine I'll tell you," Kairi said in a nervous voice. "But don't tell anyone before I do."

"Fine," Namine said with a smile. She had an idea of what had happened but couldn't believe that her friend had the guts to do it.

"W-well you see," Kairi started with a blush.

_-Flashback—_

_Kairi woke up from her slumber by the sound of running water. The first thing she noticed was that Sora was gone and Akira was sprawled over the bed with a calm expression. Kairi was glad that the nightmares she used to have were gone. Akira had woken up crying on several occasions leaving Kairi or Sora to calm the girl down. She wouldn't speak of her nightmares because she was too scared to speak about them. It wasn't until they arrived back to Radiant Garden that Sora got the girl to speak about her nightmare. Sora had told her that he and Kairi would always be there for her and that she wouldn't go through any pain as long as he was alive. Since then Akira didn't have any nightmares but it was still too early to know if she got rid of them for good. Kairi couldn't help but think that Sora would be a great dad and for a second she pictured Sora holding a red haired baby. Kairi blushed at this and covered her face with the covers of the bed. _

"_What am I thinking?" she murmured with the blush still there. The bathroom door suddenly opened and a shirtless Sora walked out. He had his normal black shorts on and was holding his shirt and vest on his right hand. This did not help Kairi calm her blush and she turned her head away from Sora. _

_-End Flashback—_

"Now I see," Namine said with a knowing smile.

"What do you see?" Kairi asked with a nervous smile.

"How you and Sora unleashed your inner passion," Namine said unaware of the deep crimson blush on Kairi's face. "When he went back into the room you dragged him back to the bathroom and before he could do anything you-"

"What?" Kairi yelled with a blush as she covered Namine's mouth. "Nothing like that happened."

"No?" Namine said with a confused look. "You're no fun."

"Something must have gone horribly wrong during your mom's pregnancy," Kairi said with a sigh.

"Tell me why you're happy. I don't really care about your morning," Namine said with a pleading look. Kairi sighed and proceeded to tell Namine of what had happened that morning.

_-Flashback-_

_Sora, now fully dressed, walked through the school's garden with a sad look on his face. He was expecting to say bye to everyone but because it was too early he only had the chance to say bye to Kairi. Akira had been asleep and Kairi was very distracted for some reason. As he neared the school's gate he saw Auron leaning against the gate's wall._

"_You're late," Auron said with a frown._

"_I'm not late, you're just too early," Sora argued._

"_Fine," Auron said with a sigh. "Are you ready to go?" _

"_Yeah…I'm ready," Sora said with a determined expression._

"_Let's go," Auron said as the two started to walk towards the road that would lead them to town._

"_WAIT!" Sora heard a voice shout from behind them. Sora turned around and his eyes widened when he felt a soft pair of lips on his own. He saw red hair and smiled into the kiss. He kissed back and felt in heaven. The kiss was unlike anything he had ever felt with any other girl. This kiss made him completely forget about anything else and feel only the soft lips of the girl he had grown to love._

_Sora and Kairi broke the kiss and blushed. They tried to look away but found themselves unable to since they couldn't stop gazing at the other._

"_Kairi I-" Sora started but was cut off by Kairi's finger silencing his lips._

"_I don't want to hear it until you come back," Kairi said with a small smile. "You have to promise me that you'll come back to tell me that."_

"_I promise," Sora said with a smile. Kairi nodded with a smile and gave Sora a quick kiss that paralyzed him on the spot. "Get going," she said with a giggle as she pushed Sora away._

"_Let's get going kid," Auron said with an amused smirk as Sora managed to nod and follow the red clad man._

"_Sora!" Kairi yelled. Sora stopped on his tracks and saw Kairi smiling with a blush on her face. "Come back soon! You don't want to keep your girlfriend waiting do you?" _

"_Y-yeah!" Sora yelled back with a blush. He then continued to go on his way but he now had a happy smile._

"_I'll be waiting," Kairi said with a smile._

_-End Flashback—_

"Oh my god!" Namine squealed. "I can't believe you two are together now."

"Neither can I," Kairi said with a smile. "I didn't think that he would feel the same."

"Are you kidding?" Namine asked with an incredulous expression. "We all knew that he liked you, I think you're the only one who didn't know."

"Shut up," Kairi said with a pout.

"I'm really happy for you Kairi," Namine said with a smile.

"Thank you," Kairi responded.

"You're going to take his bracelet off now, right?" Namine asked the redhead.

"Of course not," Kairi said with a huff. "I'll use it for whenever he has the nerve to drool at some pretty girl."

"Some things will never change," Namine said with a sigh.

**VvV**

Terra was a skilled person. He had been born for a natural talent to almost anything so it was no surprise when he got used to the keyblade in less than ten minutes. He had always been one to rely on power rather than speed and his keyblade only proved that fact. The keyblade had a blue hilt, a dark grey blade and it had six large bladed tips on the side of the end of the blade. Roxas couldn't help but feel jealous because he still wasn't comfortable using his keyblades. He could gloat that he had two but Terra would probably kick his butt in a spar.

Aqua had been good at using the keyblade but she focused in fast paced attacks unlike Terra's slow but powerful attacks. She had used a blade before so she knew how to handle herself with her keyblade; her moves were graceful yet deadly at the same time. Her keyblade was simple enough, it had a dark grey hilt, a blue blade and a crown shaped tip.

Hayner was average at using the keyblade but he still used most of his other weapons to fight. It seems that his keyblade agreed with him because the three spikes that were on the tip of the blade could be shot off the keyblade when the owner commanded it. His keyblade had a black hilt with a ninja star key chain, the blade was a dull grey color, it had a black star-shaped edge on the side of the tip of the blade and the three black spikes that were on the very tip of the blade.

All of them were currently sprawled over the grass since exhaustion had taken its toll on them. They had been doing anything they could in order to improve themselves since early morning nonstop so a small break was like water in the desert for them.

"Man, who would've thought it would be so draining to swing a keyblade around," Hayner said through pants.

"Remember what Namine said," Roxas said. "The keyblades feed off our strength so this explains why we're so tired."

"We should build up our stamina," Aqua said.

"I agree," Terra said with a gasp for breath. "What good will our strength do if we can't handle keeping the keyblades for more than an hour?"

"You're right," Hayner said. "I don't know how Sora makes it look so easy."

"Sora doesn't apply to that setback," Namine said as she, along with Kairi, neared the group.

"What do you mean?" Roxas asked as he sat up.

"Remember that Sora's situation is different than yours," Namine said with a frown.

"Right," Roxas said as he remembered when Sora's heartless had taken over. It had been frightening how blood thirsty those eyes were and the amount of strength it had. A person looking for power might find that power to be truly admirable but not Roxas. He felt for his friend but knew that he was working on controlling that heartless.

"Since Sora has an inner heartless the keyblade uses both of their energy so he's able to keep the keyblade for long periods of times," Namine said with a nod of her head.

"An inner heartless?" Aqua asked with a frown. Everyone that knew about it tensed since they knew how protective of Sora, Aqua could be.

"W-well you see," Namine started with a nervous look on her face.

**VvV**

It was near sundown when Auron decided that it was time to rest and set up camp. They were still walking through a dense forest with a few lakes and rivers here and there. The duo had found a clearing and were setting up camp. Sora was currently getting some firewood from the forest while Auron was getting them something to eat.

"Man this is hard," Sora muttered as he walked through the forest with his heavy keyblade in hand. Auron had told him to get the firewood and keep carrying the keyblade regardless. Sora was starting to feel the strain in his muscles and could tell that the next morning was going to be the worst in his life.

"How am I supposed to find firewood in a place with so many healthy trees?" This task was annoying to Sora and he decided to just get the wood his way. Sora walked to the nearest tree and broke a large branch with a swing of his keyblade. "This would have been way faster," he said as he picked up the branch and walked back to camp.

"Seems like a clear night," Sora muttered with a glance at the night sky. The dark sky was filled with bright starts and the full moon shone brightly. He spotted Auron already sitting on a sleeping bag with a few fishes by his side. "Here's the firewood Auron," Sora walked to the stones he had set up earlier for the firewood and threw a few pieces of wood.

"Did you take these off a healthy tree?" Auron asked with a frown. He noticed that Sora tensed a little before turning to him and smiling nervously.

"No I didn't," Sora said while scratching the back of his head.

"Then why is the inside of the wood white with a few specks of green?" Auron asked with a raised brow. "If you had found the wood instead of breaking it from a tree, it would have been dry."

"It doesn't matter anymore," Sora said as he piled the wood and rubbed a couple of sticks together.

"You'll never start a fire like that," Auron said with a frown.

"What are you talking about? Everyone says that you can start a fire like this," Sora said with an angry expression.

"Doesn't work. Here I'll do it," Auron said as he pointed the palm of his hand at the wood. A small fireball shot off his hand and hit the piled wood, starting a fire immediately.

"You're a Special," Sora said with a nod of his head.

"What gave you that idea kid?" Auron said with a sigh.

"How come you use a sword instead of magic like all the others?" Sora asked in confusion.

"I never really liked magic," Auron explained. "Don't get me wrong, I'm actually good using magic but I always preferred close combat."

"I get it," Sora said with a smile. "So what are you going to teach me then?"

"Well since you've no magic I'll just get you into shape and teach you how and why to use your keyblade," Auron said.

"What do you mean, why I use my keyblade?" Sora asked in confusion.

"Everyone has a different reason to use one. For some its power and others use it to seek wisdom," Auron explained. "You have to find out why you use yours and then you'll unlock your keyblade's true strength."

"But I don't fight for either of those," Sora said.

"You do, you just don't know it yet. Ask yourself why you fight and then you'll have your answer," Auron said.

"I fight because…" Sora muttered to himself. He thought back to all the times he had to fight and saw that he had always fought in order to protect those close to him. So how was this seeking power or wisdom? Sora couldn't understand why he would need those because even if he didn't have any strength he would still fight to protect them. Sora turned to Auron with a determine look and summoned his keyblade on his right hand.

"I don't fight to gain power or wisdom…I fight to protect those close to me," Sora said.

"Good answer kid," Auron said with a smirk. "You might just be different from everyone else."

"People always tell me that," Sora said with a grin as he dismissed his keyblade.

"I'll start teaching you some abilities that you can use with the power of the keyblade. Don't worry, you don't have to be a Special to use those," Auron said as he took off his coat and sword and lair on his sleeping bag.

"Great," Sora said with a smile as he took off his vest and jumped to his respective sleeping bag. Sora sighed happily and closed his eyes unaware of the dark figure standing behind a tree.

"A keyblade wielder eh?" the figure asked itself with an amused tone.

**Ch. 21 End**

**Sorry the chapter is a little short but I had to make it this way in order to update quickly. I'll bring you the next chapter in a few days and I hope this chapter came out okay. Guess what? The story has over 10,000 hits, I'm so glad that it does and would like to thank everyone who added the story to their favorites and alert and most of all everyone who reviewed the story. **


	22. Not So Sweet Memories

**Here's the next chapter to my story. I'm still looking for a beta reader but to no luck so the story will not be updated at a steady flow. Until I find one will I be able to bring chapters sooner. Thanks for all of the reviews and I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**Kingdom Hearts: Slave of Love**

_**Keyblade Arc**_

**Ch. 22 Not So Sweet Memories**

Roads between towns were harsh. Some were not on the best condition but most of them had a few bandits running around. It wasn't a big problem overall but if they got you then you're pretty much screwed. Since there was no police on the roads they had become a place were illegal activities could be practiced freely. Some people earned their money like this but some had to do it in order to survive. Though most of the bandits did it for necessity there were those that did it just for the thrill and fun.

Such was the case of Braig. He had become famous to travelers for the many robberies he had done. He didn't only steal everything from his victims, he also completely dominated them in fight. With his trusty lance shooters, which he had custom made, he had gained the name of 'One-shot Braig.' He enjoyed being feared for it meant that he had power and there was nothing he enjoyed more than to be powerful for it would attract worthy adversaries to him.

This is why Braig eyed the two travelers in excitement. One of them had a keyblade which meant that he was probably a Special. Braig had never fought a Special before so the fight would prove entertaining for him. He pondered on the thought of stealing their items while they slept but decided against it. They were packing light and didn't seem like the wealthy type. It would be better to wait until they woke up in order to fight the two travelers before taking the little things they had.

"Sleep well fools," Braig said with a smirk before walking deeper into the forest.

**VvV**

Sora stirred in his sleep and his face grimaced. He was having that nightmare again. The one that reminded him of his past and why he had completely forsaken what he really was. It had been years since he had the nightmare but it was still too painful to remember what those 'bastards' (as Sora would call them) had done to him.

_-Dream-_

_Darkness was all Sora could see. He couldn't feel anything yet he knew what was coming. First he would feel the cold rain against his skin and then everything would start. _

_He felt the rain against his bare back._

"_NO!" Sora screamed in his dream. He didn't want to have the nightmare again. He would do anything to get away from it. Not even facing his inner heartless was as horrible as what was about to happen. He wanted to stop everything before the second part of the dream would happen. He would hear screams and then flashes of images would cloud his sight. Sora begged to wake up but knew that it was futile._

_He started to hear loud screams coming from nowhere yet everywhere. A house in flames flashed in front of him. _

_Sora was doing everything he could to wake up now. It had been years since he had this dreams but he could never forget what came next. It was the thing that made him distance himself from everyone for months. It was the thing that broke his heart into a state that would never be truly fixed. It was the thing that made him contemplate suicide at the age of six. It was his parents._

"_Sora!" a feminine voice screamed. Sora closed his eyes in an attempt to get away from everything but only looked up at the shadow of the woman he had called mom at some point. Sora could only helplessly watch as everything replayed exactly like it had in the past._

"_Mommy what's wrong?" Sora heard himself ask in his younger voice. He gasped in pain when he felt a hand connect with his cheek and brought a hand to soothe it._

"_Don't call me that! You're nothing to me," Sora's mom said with venom on her voice._

"_She's right," said a masculine voice. A shadow appeared next to Sora's mother, this was his father. "We've always hated you deep down."_

"_Daddy! Mommy! Stop lying," Sora begged with tears in his eyes. He saw his parents turn away from him for a moment. Sora hoped that his parents would turn back and say they were sorry but those hopes died when they turned to him with cold glares._

"_We're not lying brat," the mom said._

"_Do you want to know the reason why our house is burning," the father asked. Sora, unsure of what to do, nodded slowly with tears flowing down his cheeks. "It's because you live here! Just because of you we lost everything!"_

"_Now we have to start over without you," the mom said. "We'll go live somewhere far away so you can't ever find us again."_

"_Mommy! Daddy! I love you very much, please don't go. I promise that I will never ask for toys again," Sora sobbed out before running to his parents in hopes that they would take them. His run was broken by his father's fist on his tiny stomach. Sora gasped for breath before falling on the ground with a tremendous amount of pain._

"_Don't you dare take another step," his father said in a cold voice. The parents started to walk away, fading on the distance as Sora sobbed on the ground._

_-End Dream-_

Sora shot up from his sleeping position in a cold sweat. He had a few tears running down his cheeks and a dry throat. He ran a hand through his hair and cursed himself for still being affected by that stupid dream. He used to have the same dream every night when he was a kid but they started to stop when he was ten. Since then the nightmares had decreased in number and had completely disappeared at the age of thirteen. He wondered why they had come back and most of all, why he was still affected by what those bastards did to him.

Sora drew off a shaky breath and decided to get a drink of water. He noticed that the sun was beginning to peek in the horizon and the air was a little cold. Sora walked out of camp and into a clearing with a small river on the side. He kneeled on the edge of the river and dunked his face on the cold water. He gulped some water before getting back off.

"Bad idea," Sora said as he felt his nose burn a little. His thirst had been quenched but his eyes and nose were now burning. "Why did I even think of doing that?"

"Maybe you're an idiot," came a voice. Sora looked around and saw a man approaching from the deeper part of the forest. He had black hair that was combed back, a brown pair of pants, and a white shirt under a large brown leather coat. The most noticeable thing about the man was the cocky smile that adorned his face and the leather gloves with strange white markings.

"Who are you?" Sora asked with anger on his voice.

"Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed or with the wrong person," Braig mocked with a smirk. "My name is Braig a.k.a 'One-shot Braig'"

"I don't really care about your little nickname. Now tell me what you want," Sora demanded with a frown.

"What I want is a fight, boy," Braig said.

"Why would I fight you? If I did you would just end up beaten in a second," Sora responded.

"As if! I'm one of the strongest bandits around while you're a no name loser," Braig said in a mocking tone. The marking on his gloves started to shine and two gun-like weapons materialized on his hands.

"Fine I'll fight you!" Sora snapped as he summoned his fifty pound keyblade.

"That's more like it," Braig said as he shot two lances, from his weapon, at Sora. The latter saw them approached and used a wind spell to send them away. "What?" Braig exclaimed before shooting more lances at Sora who knocked them away with wind easily. Sora shot a strong wind at Braig, making him jump away. Sora inwardly smirked at seeing that Braig had walked right into his trap.

"It's over!" Sora exclaimed as he used a magnet spell to pull him close. He then punched Braig on the face with all his strength before delivering a kick to his gut that launched the hopeless man into the air. Sora then jumped towards Braig and prepared to strike him with his keyblade but was suddenly pushed back by a strong gust of wind. Sora landed on the ground with a painful thud and looked up to see Auron with his palm pointed at him.

"What was that for?" Sora exclaimed in anger.

"Look," Auron said, pointing at Braig. Sora's eyes widened when he saw that Braig was unconscious. "You were about to kill an unconscious man."

"I…" Sora muttered in disbelief.

"Remember Sora," Auron said in a stern voice. "Emotions play a big role in battle. They can control us and make us do things we never thought ourselves capable of. You have to learn to keep them in check before you do something you'll regret."

"R-right," Sora muttered with his gaze on the floor.

"Now tell me what's got you so worked up," Auron demanded.

"I don't want to talk about it," Sora said with a sad look on his face.

"Fine," Auron said knowing that pushing things wouldn't get him anywhere. "Our training plans have changed."

"What?" Sora asked in confusion.

"You didn't tell me that you could use magic. Since you can, I'll be able to teach you everything I know. Well as much of it as I can in two weeks." Auron said.

"Fine," Sora sighed. He didn't wish to use his magic since it only reminded him of his old fake life but he decided to agree with Auron since he still wanted to train him even though he saw that he was about to kill an unconscious man just because he was having a bad morning.

"Good, now let's go," Auron said as he started to walk into the deeper part of the forest.

"Wait! What are we going to do about this guy," Sora said, pointing at the unconscious form of Braig.

"Leave him there," Auron said with a sigh. "He's no threat to us."

"Fine but I know that it'll just bite me in the butt some day," Sora muttered with a frown as he ran to catch up with Auron.

**VvV**

Roxas sat on Namine's backyard and could help but sigh happily. His skills had improved by a long shot. Using the keyblades was now like second nature to him and he could now use the keyblades for two hours. He was currently working on his stamina since he knew that if there was a prolonged fight, he would surely lose. He sat up and saw Terra sparring with Aqua in the distance. Those two had improved a lot and could keep their keyblades summoned for about four hours. Hayner was nowhere to be seen but that was no surprise. As of late he had spent a lot of time with Olette. Roxas was sure that he saw some chemistry there but dismissed the thought.

"One more week to go," Roxas muttered as he laid back down on the grass. He had been thinking about the competition everyday and couldn't hold back excitement as it was only a week away. Roxas had always been a little too competitive and the fact that the competition would pin him up against his best friends made it that much better. He knew that Sora was working hard too and couldn't wait to see how much he had improved. He really didn't care about the other competition since he doubted that any of them had taken down weird mutant monsters.

Roxas had made a mental list a couple of days ago of who he didn't want to get paired up against. Right now the only ones that he didn't want to fight were Terra, Aqua and Xion. Terra had a tremendous amount of strength behind every swing and had become a little agile. It also didn't help that he could keep the keyblade up longer than he could, so if the fight stretched then he would surely lose in a brutal way. Aqua on the other hand was like a blur when fighting. Her swings were fast yet a hundred percent accurate. Blocking her attacks wouldn't do him any good because he knew that nobody would be able to block all of her blows. The one who he really didn't want to fight was Xion. The mysterious girl who had taken down the mountain creatures in less than ten seconds. The girl's skills were a mystery to him but he knew that she would be using her powerful magic on the competition. It had shocked him to learn that she used a keyblade since she was strong enough with her magic.

"Everything will turn out okay," Roxas muttered as he closed his eyes.

"Shouldn't you be training?" came a sweet voice behind him. Roxas moved his head back and saw Namine walking towards him.

"I'm taking a break right now," Roxas said as he sat up. "I don't have crazy stamina like those two."

"So if you're not training, care to help me with something?" she asked with a sweet smile.

"With what?" Roxas asked in confusion.

"I want your help in buying Sora and Kairi a gift," she said with her hands clapped together.

"A gift for what?" Roxas asked with a sigh.

"To congratulate them on finally getting together and for their two week anniversary," Namine said with an exited smile.

"Anniversaries are only for couples though. We don't need to buy them a gift," Roxas said with a frown. "If you want to buy them something then you can go by yourself."

"Fine," Namine said with a sad look. She begin to sniff a little and covered her eyes with her hands.

"Great," Roxas muttered with an annoyed growl. He knew for a fact that Namine was faking yet her little act still got to him. For some reason he didn't want to see her like this but he didn't want to give in into her act.

"I'll go to my room now…dream killer," Namine said as she turned to walk away. She yelped in surprise when she felt a hand grasp hers and lead her to a nearby carriage. Namine giggled slightly when she took a good look at Roxas' annoyed face. She knew that he didn't want to go so she thought that it was sweet of him to go when he thought that she was upset. At least that's what she thought since she was oblivious to the fact that Roxas knew all about her little act.

"Had to happen to me," Roxas muttered as he and Namine entered the carriage.

**VvV**

Sora walked through the streets of Port Royal. It was a loomy town near the shore where a lot of illegal activities took place. The town was run by gangs and pirates who ducked on town every once in a while. Sora and Auron had arrived at the town three days ago since Auron wanted Sora to use his new abilities on the bandits of the town. Sora had improved a lot and was now carrying a much bulkier keyblade that weighed a hundred and twenty five pounds. He had grown faster and stronger in just a couple of days. When he had arrived to Port Royal he had been pinned up against a couple of goons. It was a little hard for Sora at first since he wasn't used to the weight on his keyblade but soon after he started to finish the fights in less than a minute. Now he was known around town and people were usually picking fights because of it.

Right now Sora was looking for Auron who had gone to a bar. Sora had been okay with the answer until he realized that the town was full of bars. He had been looking for Auron for about an hour and three was no sign of him. The reason he was looking for him was because they were supposed to be on their way to the next town which would be on the way back to Radiant Garden. And now with only a week to make it back Sora wanted to get out of Port Royal as soon as possible.

"What are you doing here?" Sora heard a voice yell from one of the bars. Deciding to see what the commotion was about he entered the bar to see a bald muscular bartender standing in front of what appeared to be a pirate with dreads and a red bandana on his head. He had dirty a white dirty shirt under a black vest and wore black baggy pants.

"Why, my good men. I came here for a drink," said the pirate with his hands raised in defense. Sora noticed that the man was wobbling slightly, _probably drunk,_ he mused.

"You know you're not allowed here Sparrow," the bartender said with a frown. "So why don't you leave before I kick you out."

"You shouldn't get violent mate," Sparrow said with a smirk as he moved a hand to his back. With a sudden yell he smashed a bottle into the bartenders head but to his misfortune found that it was a plastic one. "I don't suppose you'll let me try again?" he asked. The bartender yelled and picked Sparrow up before throwing him against a table. A drink flew in the air and hit a man with a long black beard. The man turned around slowly before tackling the bartender to the ground. They landed on top of a man with long dirty brown hair and knocked him out. His friends didn't take kindly of this and began to pound on both the man. Soon most of the bar was engaged on a fight and Sora couldn't help but grin a little.

"My first bar fight," Sora said as he dodged a glass bottle. He saw Sparrow walking towards him before putting a bottle of whiskey on his hand.

"Might as well drink up mate," Sparrow said. "It's going to be a long night, savvy?"

"Thanks, I guess," Sora said with a confused look.

"You the one who took my drink?" said a bulky man that was walking towards Sora.

"No it was-" Sora stopped when he saw that Sparrow was nowhere to be found and cursed his luck. The man pushed Sora and he found himself landing on something soft. He opened his eyes to find that he had fallen on top of a woman at about thirty with blond hair. Sora instantly got off but found several glares on his direction.

"That guy just assaulted Lady Lockhart, get him!" one of the man said. Sora instantly ran out of the bar with a mob of people after him.

"Why the hell are they following me?" He exclaimed as he ran. He turned a corner and saw Sparrow walking calmly through the streets. "Hey you!" he yelled. Sparrow turned around and his eyes widened when he saw the stampede of people coming his way.

"Don't bring your troubles to me lad," Sparrow said as he ran next to Sora.

"MY troubles. It was you who put the freaking bottle on my hand," Sora said with a glare.

"I just wanted to celebrate a great night mate," Sparrow said as they turned another corner and found that they had gone into the docks with the no other way out.

"Damn we cornered ourselves," Sora said as he stopped running. The mob stopped in front of the two and laughed to themselves thinking that the fight would be short.

"Best we fight lad," Sparrow said. "Don't worry for you shall be fighting alongside the great Jack Sparrow."

"Yeah sure," Sora said with a frown. "My name's Sora by the way."

"Okay Zola you attack first and I'll back you up," Jack said.

"My name is Sora! Not Zola," Sora said before charging at the mob. He swung his keyblade with accuracy and gracefulness and soon the mob was unconscious on the ground.

"Why didn't you do anything?" Sora asked Jack with a glare.

"Didn't you see me, I was everywhere at once," Jack said in a defensive tone. "Thanks for the payment but I have to go." With that Jack walked back to town leaving a confused Sora on the docks.

"Payment?" Sora asked himself but froze when he noted that the money on his pocket was all gone. "Damn you Jack!" he yelled in frustration as he ran to look for the pirate.

"Stop," Sora heard a calm voice behind him.

"I can't just sit here, I just got robbed," Sora said with a frown as he turned to Auron.

"You got robbed because you weren't careful, but now we have to leave," Auron said.

"Fine," Sora said with a pout. "Where are we going though? You said we were going to a town right?"

"Yes we're going to a town near the mountains of Radiant Garden called Land of Dragons," Auron explained.

"Okay then let's go," Sora said with a nod.

"Before we go, here," Auron said as he put a small bag filled with munny on his hand.

"Why are you giving me this?" Sora asked in confusion.

"Because thanks to your little scrimmage at the bar I won a large bet," Auron said with a smirk.

"Wait! If you were at the bar then you could've helped me from the start and I wouldn't have gotten robbed," Sora said with a frown. "Why didn't you?"

"I didn't feel like it," Auron responded with a calm expression.

"Stupid Auron," Sora muttered as the two walked back into town to take the road back to Radiant Garden.

**KH: Slave of Love Short**

Sora and Auron walked on a dirt road with calm expressions. Every once in a while Sora would throw glances at Auron when he thought he wasn't looking. Auron grew tired of this and confronted the teen.

"Why are you staring at me?" Auron asked with a frown.

"Why do you have that eye patch on? Did something horrible happen to you?" Sora asked with a confused look.

"You see kid," Auron started. "When I was a kid I saw a band of pirates kidnap my parents and they left me with many harsh wounds."

"So the reason you have the eye patch is-" Sora started but was cut off by Auron.  
"Yes, I really like pirates," Auron said with a calm look.

"What the hell," Sora muttered with a sour look.

**Ch. 22 End**

**This is the end of this chapter and I hope that you like it. I decided to do a little comedy short that I call "KH: Slave of Love Short" where there will be random moments that won't really have anything to do with the story. I decided to do this since I've seen some shows do funny random moments at the end and I thought "I might as well do one, see how it goes." So starting this chapter I'll do this shorts at the end of every chapter. Please review to give me your opinion on this because if you don't like them or think they're a bad idea I can just take them off.**

**And before you ask, yes there will be some Disney characters and Kingdom Hearts world on the fic later on. Now if you're wondering why Sora pretty much just ignored his rule of no magic and attacked Braig is because every time he has the dream he wakes up in an awful mood. Just one more week until the keyblade competition and let me tell you that things are going to get really hectic there. This chapter was pretty much dedicated to Sora's past and the training everyone is doing. We'll see what Kairi has been doing on the next chapter.**


	23. Awakening the Fire Within

**Sorry for the wait guys but I've been sick lately since this is the season where my allergies kick in. I've decided to expand the story some more and as such, I don't know when it will end. I'll keep the comedy shorts at the end in order to lighten the mood of the story a little. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts**

**Kingdom Hearts: Slave of Love**

_**Keyblade Arc**_

**Ch. 23 Awakening the Fire Within**

Sora and Auron walked though a rocky road that would take them to Land of the Dragons. This town was completely surrounded by mountains and in order to get there you had to take a harsh road. Land of the Dragons was named after the belief that a dragon had made its home there before allowing humans to live with it. This was said to have taken place thousands of years ago and of course Sora believed the story to be rubbish. He didn't believe in the mythical beast since the story was too incredible to be true.

"How much longer till we get there?" Sora asked with a pant as he carried the now hundred and ten pound keyblade.

"We should be there in a few hours," Auron answered with a sigh, clearly annoyed at Sora's constant questions.

"Are you kidding me?" Sora asked with a sigh. "I'm freaking tired of carrying this thing. Can't we take a break? We've been hiking for hours."

"Fine we'll take a break," Auron said with a nod. Sora gave off a sigh of relief and looked for a place to rest. "When we get there," he finished with a smirk.

"What the hell!" Sora yelled with a frustrated look on his face.

"We can't just stay in one place on a steep hill idiot," Auron said. "If we do, then it might not be able to support the weigh which is why we have to keep on moving."

"I get it," Sora said with a sigh.

"Don't worry," Auron said as they walked up a steep part of the road. "We're here," when they reached the top Sora could see a town down in the distance. The houses there appeared to be made from the bamboo trees that could be seen in the distance and many lakes adorned the town.

"What gives? I thought that it would take a couple of hours to get here," Sora asked with a confused look.

"I lied," Auron said.

"Wait, what?" Sora asked with an incredulous expression. "Why the hell did you lie?"

"I was bored and you're great entertainment," Auron said as he walked towards town.

"HELP!" the duo heard a voice yell in the distance. They looked at each other before running to where they heard the voice.

"There!" Sora yelled when they saw an old woman on the ground watching helplessly as a group of armored men set fire to what appeared to be her house.

"I'll put the fire out while you take care of the man," Auron instructed as the duo ran to the home. "Make sure I'm not interrupted."

"Got it," Sora said with a nod as Auron stood in front of the house and Sora guarded him from the man.

"Who are you?" one of the man asked with a snarl.

"Doesn't matter," Sora said as he dashed at the closest man. He swung his heavy keyblade and made contact with the man's chest. The man gasped in pain and another one ran at Sora. Sora used a wind spell to push the man aside and threw his keyblade at another approaching men. The keyblade made contact with the man's helmet and he was knocked out. _One down, _Sora thought with a frown.

"Get that damned kid!" yelled what Sora presumed to be their leader. He had a weird yellow Eskimo hoody with grey pants. He had a black mustache and a small beard.

"Stop!" Sora exclaimed as three of the man stopped moving. He ran to them and hit them several times with his keyblade but they didn't seem affected. Sora ran at another man while the man that were caught in his Stop spell got free and knocked unconscious due to Sora's blows. Sora watched as five men surrounded him and couldn't help but think that they were endless. When they had first arrived it seemed that there were not many but now there were way too many for him. He looked behind his shoulder and saw that Auron was using a water spell on the house.

"Wind!" Sora yelled as a large gust of wind surrounded him and knocked the five men that surrounded him aside. He felt relieved when he saw that there were no more man but cursed when he saw them come out though a man-made cave on a nearby hill. Sora thought of what to do and formulated a quick plan. He waited for the man to get close enough and used a wind spell that threw them in the air.

"Thunder!" Sora exclaimed as a large ray of thunder came out of his keyblade and hit the helpless group of man. "Now!" he yelled as he ran to where the cave was. The inside was spacious but he didn't have time to marvel at it since another wave of men was coming from inside of the cave.

"I really hope this won't kill me," Sora muttered with a nervous chuckle. "Quake!" he yelled as he slammed his keyblade on the ground and a large quake shook the cave. The walls couldn't sustain the power of the cave and caved in. Sora quickly retreated while avoiding falling rocks. He had known that the idea was not too bright be that would stop the waves of man. Sora saw the exit on the distance and saw that it was being covered by the falling rocks.

"Damn it," he muttered as he ran. He used a wind spell to push some rocks aside and jumped out of the cave. He sighed in relief when he saw that he was out but quickly snapped out of it when he saw the leader approaching Auron who still wasn't done stopping the fire.

"Not another step!" Sora yelled as he dashed at the man. The man smirked at Sora before getting out a sword and stabbing at Sora. Sora cursed himself for just rushing in and jumped towards the man's sword. At the last moment he sunk his keyblade to the ground and used the momentum to spin on the keyblade and kicking the man's head. The man smirked at caught the kick. Sora used his other foot to kick the man on the chest and propel himself away from the man.

Sora landed away from the man and got in a fight stance while the man only continued to smirk. Sora frowned and dashed at the man but gasped when he looked in the man's eyes. They had yellow pupils and looked a lot like his inner heartless'. The man took advantage of Sora's distraction and kneed him on the stomach. Sora spat blood before the man elbowed him on the top of the head. Sora slammed into the ground but before the man could do anything, spun on the ground and kicked the man's legs. The man knee's bent but he didn't fall. Sora got up quickly and moved away from the man. Sora got a good look at him and saw that his body was mostly bulky muscle, no wonder he hadn't fallen with his kick.

Sora was now panting and felt his magic reserves going down while the man only smirked. The man seemed invincible to Sora, no matter how hard he hit the man wouldn't give. The man charged at Sora with his sword raised high. Sora moved away but as soon as he did an eagle came out of nowhere and clawed his left arm. He winced in pain and saw the eagle land on the man's left shoulder. This had just complicated things for Sora and he didn't know what to do, he was almost at his limit and knew that the men's odd had just gone up due to the eagle. He felt his inner heartless begin to grow restless but he refused to let it take control.

When Auron found out that Sora had an inner heartless. He had told him that if it takes over too many times then it would only get harder to control. Auron had tried to teach him ways to use his heartless' power but he didn't have any luck so far. Every time he tried he would be too afraid of the heartless taking over and would lose his focus. Sora gave up after that, saying that using the heartless was too risky. Auron had opposed at first but finally gave in since he got tired of Sora's excuses.

_Might as well try, _Sora thought with a frown. He closed his eyes and began to focus on the dark power that lurked inside of his heart. Auron told him that it was possible to take specific powers from the heartless if you wanted. You needed almost perfect control to do that and that was the thing that Sora lacked at the moment. _Here we go, _Sora thought as he began to draw out that power without losing his consciousness. Sora felt like there was a small spark of fire inside of him and began to draw out that power.

Sora's clothes began to flash a red color and red sparks came out of both his hands. Sora gritted his teeth as he concentrated on the power. With a yell he let out all of the power and the leader of the man was agape at what had happened. Sora's eyes had a more fierce look on them and his clothes had gone from black to red with white markings. Sora was now holding his original keyblade on his left hand and the heavy version of it on his right.

"You're done," Sora said with a growl. He dashed at the man in an incredible speed and brought both keyblades down. The man covered with his sword and the eagle left its shoulder. Sora kicked the man away and ducked. The eagle flew past where his head had been and flew high in the sky. Sora glared at the annoying bird and jumped as high as he could. He surprised himself when he saw that the bird was a few feet above him. Sora threw the bulky keyblade at the eagle while he spun mid-air to face the leader. His eyes widened when he saw that the man was no longer there and cursed himself. He landed on the ground and saw the heavy keyblade falling down his way.

"Crap," he yelped when he saw the keyblade coming closer. He jumped away and the keyblade landed right where he had been. "That was close. I really need to be more careful," he muttered as he lifted the heavy keyblade and rested in on the back of his right shoulder.

"Good job kid," Auron said as he approached Sora.

"Thanks," Sora said with a nod.

"You finally used your heartless' power?" he asked.

"Yeah but I don't really know how to go back to normal," Sora said with a frown.

"Just relax and it will disperse," Auron said with a wave of his hand. Sora did as instructed and soon enough his original keyblade disappear and his clothes went back to normal. "Now we need to get going."

"Right," Sora said with a nod as the two walked to town.

"Wait," they heard a voice behind them. They turned and saw that the woman that had been attacked was approaching them. "I would like to thank you for helping me."

"Whatever," Auron said with a frown.

"No thanks necessary ma'am," Sora said with a smile.

"Nonsense, I would like you to have this," the woman said as she handed a black orb with the drawing of a chain on the middle to Sora. "I noticed that you have one of those keyblades. My husband had one before passing and he would use that orb on it. It would be a pleasure if you kept it."

"Thanks," Sora said with a smile. He waved bye at the woman and walked to town with Auron at his side. "Do you know what his does?" he asked Auron once they were out of the woman's earshot.

"That's a Morph Ball," Auron explained. "They can transform keyblades into different weapons if you own one."

"Cool," Sora said as he eyed the orb. "Are there any more?"

"Yeah but not a lot have been made since they're really hard to make," Auron said.

"I get it," Sora said with a nod. "So what are we going to town for, again?"

"I told you," Auron said with a sigh. "We're going to visit an old friend of mine. He has some information that I need. We're going to get it and then we're off."

"Okay," Sora said with a nod. "So it will take a day at most right?"

"Yeah but it will appear to be longer if you don't shut up," Auron said with a glare at the teen.

**VvV**

Kairi walked through the school's garden with a smile on her face. Ever since Sora left, Kairi had pushed herself to learn more magic. She mostly trained herself in healing magic since Sora would always get hurt and she wanted to help him any way possible. She had been bad at first but after reading through books and asking teachers for help, she was improving fast. Kairi was now able to heal things like scrapes and small cuts. She was also able to stop bleeding in many kinds of wounds but she couldn't heal them completely. She had also learned some magic attacks of every element.

Today had been a great day of training and Kairi was happy with herself. She felt that she would no longer stand aside while Sora risked himself. She knew that during the keyblade competition Sora was bound to get hurt. Sora, she smiled at the name. She hadn't stopped thinking about the brunette since he left. She was happy that Sora seemed happy about their new relationship even if it had been out of the blue. Only one more week remained for Sora to be back and she was growing more exited as the time came closer. She and Akira missed Sora a lot, but Kairi felt that it was Akira who was feeling worse about his leaving.

Ever since Sora left, Akira had been getting nightmares again. Kairi had been there to sooth her but the girl would only weep and ask for Sora. Akira had grown really attached to Sora and had taken to call him 'big brother' at times. The first time Sora heard her say this he grinned and ruffled the girl's hair. Since that day the two developed a deep brother and sister relationship. Kairi was close to the girl but she knew that Akira felt safer with Sora in the room.

Kairi sighed when she thought of what Akira was going through. "Just a little more time and he'll be back," she whispered with a smile.

**VvV**

Sora walked through the mountain town of Land of the Dragons with a scowl on his face. When he and Auron arrived at a palace where his friend supposedly lived, Auron had the nerve to kick him out. When Sora asked for a reason Auron had said, "you're too annoying at times and my friend has no patience when it comes to loud people." Sure Sora had been a little too loud when they arrived at the palace, but who wouldn't be? The palace had high red walls, a one mile entry way and the roof tiles were made of gold.

"Stupid Auron," Sora said with a frown as he walked down a brown stoned street. Every single street on Land of the Dragons, was made of brown stone. It gave the town a peaceful look and made it seem like a very clean place. The air was rich, the grass on the side of the streets was tall and richly green, and the brown stoned houses had hay roofs supported by bamboo trees. This was a relaxing place to be in and it made Sora tranquil.

"What to do now?" he asked himself as he walked through the streets. He noticed that there weren't many people out and that many stores seemed to be closed. He didn't pay much attention to this since, while traveling with Auron, he had learned that different town had different customs. He had seen many crazy things on the short time he had traveled, he had been to a town were people greeted each other with hugs and kisses. Sora had been terrified when a tall bulky man hugged him out of nowhere and kissed his cheek.

A lone sign got his attention. It was a wanted sign with the picture of the man with the eagle Sora had fought earlier that day. The man's name was Shan Yu and was wanted for committing a wave of crimes and apparently raising a group against the emperor of the town. Sora had no idea how there could be an emperor on a small town but didn't question it since he knew that leaders of towns called themselves different things in different places. Dismissing that thought, Sora focused on Shan Yu. The man had been tough when they had fought and he was the leader of a bunch of criminals. Sora hoped that he there weren't any more of the bandits but knew it was too much to ask. Shan Yu's followers appeared endless when he fought them and knew that no man would use all of his men to attack a simple woman.

"The old lady," Sora muttered in realization. She was hiding something important that Shan Yu wanted. He cursed himself for not asking and ran towards the old lady's house.

**VvV**

Auron sat on one of the many rooms of the palace. He was in a meeting room that had red walls and yellow patterns of the wall. Across from him sat his old friend Li Shang. The two had been through some battles together and had been known across the world at some point. They parted ways when Auron continued to travel while Shang wanted to settle down in a town.

"What brings you here Auron?" Shang asked.

"I'm here on a training trip with my pupil," Auron began. "We went to Port Royal where I learned that you have some information I could use."

"And what would that be?" Shang asked with a raised brow.

"I want to know what you found out about the Xehanort family," Auron said with a serious expression.

"This information is classified but because of our friendship I will fill you in," Shang began. "I don't know many details but what I can tell you is that-" Shang was cut off by a loud explosion coming from the palace's gates. He and Auron ran to the window and saw that a large swarm of bandits had gotten through the gates. Shang gasped when he saw a man standing on top of the high entry way of the palace.

"That's Shan Yu," Shang muttered with a shocked expression. "I have to get my men together," he shouted as he ran out of the room.

"This might be a little fun," Auron muttered with a smirk as he jumped out the window and landed on the stone floors of the palace's entry way. "All right you bastards, let's see what you're made of," with that Auron ran at the enemies with his sword raised high.

**VvV**

Sora gasped for breath when he saw the lady's house on the distance. He quickly ran to the door and knocked loudly. A few seconds passed and he was growing impatient, he had heard a loud explosion coming from the palace earlier and knew that it couldn't be good. He was about to knock again when he saw the lady open the door.

"You're the boy from earlier," the woman said with a smile. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I know that I should mind my business but I really need to ask you something," Sora said with a serious expression. The woman nodded with a sweet smile. "I need to know why you were attacked earlier."

"What?" the woman asked with wide-eyes. She was obviously thrown off by the question, which made Sora know that she was indeed hiding something.

"I really need to know why. I heard a loud explosion from the palace a few minutes ago and whatever it is that they came here for must be really important," Sora said.

"Fine," the woman said with a sigh. "He came here for the legendary dragon guardian."

"A dragon guardian?" Sora asked in amazement.

"Yes," the lady said. "It is said that it's a being so powerful that was locked away due to its power," the lady walked over to a chest on her small living room. She opened it and took out a large black scroll with many tags and chains wrapped around it.

"What is that?" Sora asked.

"This is where the dragon is imprisoned," the lady said. "You will be able to open it with your keyblade but I must warn you. The dragon's intentions are not known so be careful when you let it out."

"Wait a minute. You're letting me set it free?" Sora asked with a finger pointed at himself.

"I know for a fact that you are a good kid and will not use it for evil intentions. It is said that dragons respect only those with pure hearts. I know you can do it," the lady said with a smile.

"Got it," Sora said as he took the scroll in hand and walked out of the house with the lady following closely. Sora threw the scroll a good distance away from him and pointed his keyblade at it. A keyhole appeared on top of the chains and a beam shot out of the keyblade. The beam hit the lock and the chains and tags started to fall off the scroll. A dark mist came out of the scroll and it opened it violently.

"Whoah," Sora muttered in amazement. A large black shadow with red eyes could be seen in the smoke. Sora gripped his keyblade in case that the dragon attacked.

"I am Mushu!" came a voice from inside the dark mist. When the mist cleared Sora could see a small red dragon standing on top of the scroll with a happy smile. A cold gust flew by the area as Sora stared at the dragon in disappointment. "What's with that look?"

"I don't know, I was just expecting something better," Sora said in a bored tone.

"What did you just say? I am an all mighty dragon," Mushu said while throwing a few punches on the air.

"Did I just waste precious time to free a six inch dragon?" Sora asked in the same bored tone.

"Sorry dear," the lady said with a sweatdrop.

"Hey man what are you talking about?" Mushu asked with a frown. "I am a feared dragon where I come from, why else do you think I was locked away?"

"I really don't have time for this," Sora said with a desperate sigh. "There's trouble on the palace and I have to help."

"Let me go with you," Mushu said as he climbed on top of Sora's head. "I want to kick some bad guy butt."

"Fine," Sora said with a roll of his eyes. "Hang on Mushu!" he exclaimed as he began to run to the castle with his heavy keyblade gripped tightly and with the tiny dragon hanging on to Sora's spikes as if his life depended on it.

**Ch. 23 End**

**KH: Slave of Love Short**

_A shirtless Roxas walked through Hollow Bastion with a sad expression. Today had been the day that his parents had past away and he had been beaten up by some thugs. With nowhere to go the teen walked through the streets with no definite direction._

"_Do you need some help?" said a man with black flowing hair riding on top of a white stallion. _

"_N-no I couldn't trouble you, Prince William," Roxas said with a small blush._

"_Please call me Will," the prince said in a soft tone as he got off his horse and took Roxas' hand before leaning his head towards the teen's._

"_My prince," Roxas whispered with a blush as he closed his eyes in anticipation. They got closer and closet until finally they k—_

"WHAT THE HELL!" Roxas yelled with flushed cheeks, interrupting the blushing Namine's story.

**A/N: I hope that you liked this chapter and sorry for the delay. This was the longest fight scene that I've written and hope that it came out well. I thank you for reading the story and don't forget to review!**


	24. Wrath of the Heartless

**Hey guys! I decided to update quickly because of all the reviews I got in less than a day. But before we begin I would like to clarify a few things. **

**Sora only uses his magic when in dangerous situations so don't get mad if he doesn't use it in some fights. Another thing that I would like to clarify is that some visits to other towns (during Sora's training) will be about a day long. This is because the competition is in one week and I can't afford to make them stay in a town too long. Now that that's out of the way we can begin.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts**

**Kingdom Hearts: Slave of Love**

_**Keyblade Arc**_

**Ch. 24 Wrath of the Heartless**

Sora ran through town with a worried look on his face. He was headed for the palace but had seen many large fireballs coming from the palace. Mushu still sat on his head and the two were now on the palace's gate. There was nobody there which was a bad thing. It meant that whoever had wanted to get through the gates had succeeded. With a determined look Sora went through the gate and his eyes widened.

There were some lifeless bodies on the ground, soldiers and bandits alike, and many others were fighting in the distance. Sora looked ahead and saw Auron squaring off against a large group of bandits. Sora knew that Auron could take care of himself but it seemed that he was trying to prevent the bandits from getting through and was having a hard time doing so because of the large number of man. He prepared to go aid Auron but stopped on his tracks when he saw Shan Yu running on top of the palace's walls, he appeared to be headed for the entrance of a large building that Sora presumed was where the emperor was.

"Sora!" Auron yelled as soon as he saw the teen.

"What is it?" Sora yelled as he ran to where Auron was.

"Don't come any closer," Auron said as he dodged a blade and brought his down on a bandit's chest before kicking him away. "I want you to go after the guy that got through."

"B-but," Sora said in inner turmoil. He didn't want to leave Auron facing off against so many bandits at once but knew that if Auron gave the order then it must be important.

"Just go Sora," Auron said as he impaled a bandit through the chest and pushed another one away with a strong wind spell. "No matter what happens we can't let that guy get to the emperor."

"Got it," Sora said with a determined expression. Auron smirked at Sora's retreating figure and couldn't help but feel proud. The teen had come a long way since the beginning of their travels. He had grown a lot stronger in only a week, he wondered what he could accomplish if it had been a month or a year even. Nonetheless he felt proud of his pupil and hoped that he could get to teach him a few more things on the future.

**VvV**

Shan Yu entered the palace with a smirk. This was the day that he would take over as emperor and he was only a few steps away from his goal. He had seen the famous Auron fighting outside but knew that his followers would stall him. He walked through a large hallway with red walls and approached a tall red door that stood in the end of the hallway. He pushed it open and smirked wider. He saw the emperor was sitting on his thrown with a frown while Li Shang stood next to him with his sword drawn.

"Not another step, traitor," Shang said as he walked towards Shan Yu.

"Do you really think you can beat me?" Shan Yu said with a smirk. His eyes glowed a deep yellow and he charged at Shang. Shang stood his ground as Shan Yu approached and stabbed at him. Yu saw this coming and used his own sword to block his. He then used delivered a left hook to Shang's jaw, breaking it instantly. Shang cried in pain and moved away from Yu.

"What's wrong? Are you tired already?" Shan Yu asked with a smirk. Shang nursed his jaw and glared at Shan Yu. With no words needed, Shang dashed at Shan Yu with his sword raised. Yu blocked the upcoming sword but didn't expect a small dagger from Shang's left hand. Shang stabbed Yu in the ribs before pushing him away with a headbutt. Shan Yu only smirked while Shang's eyes widened. Instead of blood a black liquid was oozing out of the cut he had made. The black liquid healed the injury before spreading and covering the right part of his torso and his whole right arm.

"You die now!" Shan Yu yelled as he punched Shang with his now pitch black arm. Shang was thrown against a wall and gasped in pain. Even though he was wearing battle armor, the impact with the wall knocked the wind out of him and broke several ribs.

Shang could only watch as Shan Yu approached him with a smirk on his face. The darkness that had covered his right torso was now slowly spreading throughout his whole body. Once close enough, Shan Yu lifter his sword to deliver the final blow. Shang closed his eyes in defeat and sadness since he had failed to protect the emperor. Shan Yu smirked as he brought the sword down but a fireball knocked it out of his hand.

Shan Yu glared at the direction where the fireball had come from but chuckled when he saw a small red dragon with his arms crossed.

"Yeah that's right. You just got a small taste of my power," Mushu said with a triumphant look that turned to one of dread when he took a good look at Shan Yu.

"A dragon? How rare, I wonder how much you would sell for? Or maybe I should make myself a wallet or a pair of boots out of your skin," Shan Yu said with a twisted smirk.

"Now, now hold on man. I know that my skin is beautiful but there's no need to cut it. I feel generous today so I'll let you go," Mushu said while sweating bullets. He started to walk away but stopped when he saw an extended pitch black arm blocking his way.

"Nobody leaves," Shan Yu growled.

"Bad idea to split up with Sora," Mushu whined with a nervous look.

**VvV**

Sora ran through the hallways of the palace and cursed when he ended up in another dead end.

"Who the hell puts dead ends inside a freaking palace!" Sora exclaimed in anger as he turned the other way and began to run. He had split up with Mushu in order to cover more ground and was now regretting it. It had been a bad idea since they were indoors so they couldn't message themselves with fireballs thrown into the sky and the inside of the palace was way too confusing. Sora ended up running into a small red door and opened it. He found himself inside a kitchen and sweatdropped at his luck. He turned to leave and retrace his steps but thought of something better. He was going to look for a peasant and ask where the emperor was. Sora saw another red door on the other side of the kitchen and walked over to it. He heard the sounds of battle and smirked, this was the door he was looking for.

**VvV**

Mushu dodged another swing of Shan Yu's sword with a panicked expression. He had been dodging so many swings that he lost count and wished that he would give up already. He dodged another attack and climbed up one of the red poles that adorned the throne room.

Shan Yu growled at the annoying dragon with a feral look in his eyes. Darkness now covered his legs and left part of his torso and was starting to move to his left arm. A heartless hole had appeared on his chest and he had grown a small black tail.

"Stop running," Shan Yu said through gritted teeth. "Give up! You're no match for me." He charged at the pole and broke it with his sword. Mushu fell with a loud thud and looked at Shan Yu in horror as he brought his sword up. "I told you that you're no match for me."

"But I am," a voice said from behind him. Shan Yu turned to see Sora glaring at him with his heavy keyblade in hand. Before he could do anything Sora was right in front of him and knocked him aside with his keyblade. The blow created a large wound on Shan Yu's torso and he was thrown into one of the poles.

"How you doing Mushu?" Sora asked with a smirk as he put the keyblade behind his shoulder.

"Where have you been man?" Mushu asked when he got out of his initial shock. "I've been here kicking butt and you appear now?"

"Kicking butt? I saw you running away from Shan Yu. Mushu was about to retort but stopped when he felt a dark presence behind him. He turned around to see Shan Yu getting up with a black aura surrounding him. The darkness now covered all of his body. His whole face was covered in tentacles except for a pair of neon yellow eyes.

"He couldn't handle it," Sora said with a frown.

"Handle what?" Mushu asked with a confused look.

"The heartless inside of him," Sora said as he got into a fighting position. The heartless roared and charged at Sora while Mushu climbed on top of Sora's head. Sora waited for the heartless to be close enough before rolling away and making it crash into the wall.

"What are you doing?" Sora asked Mushu as the heartless started to get up.

"I'm fighting that thing too. No way I'm going to chicken out of this," Mushu said with a smile.

"Let's go then," Sora said with a grin as the heartless charged at them once again. As the heartless got close Mushu fired a large fireball that made contact with its chest. The heartless growled but didn't let up. Sora rolled away again making the heartless crash into the wall.

"Got any ideas?" Mushu asked with a light pant.

"Well as much as I love to see that idiot crash into the wall, we need to find its weakness and attack it at full force," Sora said as he eyed the heartless. He scanned for any sort of weak point and his eyes landed on the hole on its chest. "Might as well try."

"Try what?" Mushu asked with slight fear.

"Let's try and morph our attacks into one to create an opening then we'll attach the hole in its chest with all we've got without letting up," Sora said with a smirk. Mushu got a smirk himself and waited for the heartless to charge at them. The heartless did just that but took them both by surprise when it disappeared in a dark portal.

"What the hell?" Sora yelled with a whine but before he knew it the heartless appeared in front of him. The heartless punched Sora with great force, making Mushu fall off his head, and then ran at Sora's fallen form. It grabbed Sora by the head and slammed him into a wall. Sora cried in pain but gasped for air when the heartless punched his stomach. It was at this time that Sora noticed that his heavy keyblade was nowhere to be found. The heartless screeched before stabbing its clawed fingers into Sora's stomach. Sora coughed up blood and gripped the heartless' wrist in an attempt to make it let him go. The heartless was about to raise another fist but before it made contact the heartless was pushed away by a large fire ball.

"You okay Sora?" Mushu asked in slight panic at seeing Sora's bloody outfit. He noticed that blood was flowing freely from five holes on his shirt.

"I'm okay," Sora said through gritted teeth. He felt a little lightheaded due to the heartless slamming his head against the wall and he felt numb on his stomach. Sora looked around the room and spotted the heartless getting up. "Attach now!" Sora prepared a fireball on his hand while Mushu prepared one on his mouth. They fired the attacks at the same time and watched in amazement as the two fireballs morphed into one. The attack hit the heartless dead on but Sora didn't stop. Mushu jumped on Sora's arm and put his mouth right on top of Sora's extended palm. The two begin to throw a barrage of fireballs at the heartless, making it roar in pain.

"Is it dead?" Sora asked through pants when the attack was over. There was a large smoke covering the area where the heartless had been standing.

"I don't know but I don't think it left unscratched," Mushu said through pants. The smoke began to clear and their eyes widened when they saw that the heartless was standing back up with great effort. The heartless stared at the two and gave out a large roar. The heartless was surrounded in a dark aura and two dark wings started to grow on its back. It also grew in size and Sora noticed that a dark eagle was forming right next to it.

"Of course," Sora muttered with a weary smile.

**VvV**

Auron groaned as he saw another wave of bandits rushing at him. Sora hadn't been kidding when he said that these guys were endless. Auron was starting to feel a little tired and had gotten a few wounds here and there but nothing too serious. He was fighting the army alone since there weren't many soldiers to begin with, there were only a few dozen while the others were home due to a holiday. Auron had to give it to the invaders, they knew what day to pick.

"Here we go," Auron said with a sigh as he dashed at the group of bandits. He used a wind spell to make them drop their guards and did a large horizontal swipe that took care of them.

"That was very good," said a voice. Auron saw a bandit with black combed hair that wore pilot type clothes. He recognized the man as the one that Sora had fought on their way to Port Royal.

"You're Braig, right?" Auron asked with a frown.

"You remembered my name, what an honor," Braig said with a smile.

"Humph, I should've let my pupil kill you that day," Auron said with a smirk.

"Too bad we can't turn back the clock, huh?" Braig asked with a smirk of his own before getting his two Lance Shooters out. "Here's were you die old man."

"We'll see about that," Auron said with a calm expression.

"Take this!" Braig yelled as he shot a barrage of lances at Auron who used a reflect spell to defend himself. "Got a reload," Braig muttered as he began to reload his weapons. He looked up to see the reflect spell break but froze when he saw that Auron wasn't in it.

"Never take your eyes off the opponent," Auron said from behind Braig. He brought down his sword on Braig but he jumped away the last minute, but not without any injuries.

"Ahh my eye," Braig yelled as he held his right eye in pain. "Damn you!" Braig took both his Lance Shooters and morphed them into one before shooting a large white lance.

"Auron tried to break it with his sword but found that the lance was stronger than he expected and in a last second attempt to dodge the attack he jumped to his left.

"Damn," Auron muttered as he held his now bleeding right arm in pain. The lance had managed to hit him after all and he couldn't believe that he had made the rookie mistake of underestimating his opponent.

"Hahaha, looks like the mighty Auron is not as strong as everybody thinks," Braig said with a smirk as he took off the red handkerchief around his neck and tied it around his right eye.

"Come at me then," Auron said as he got into a fighting stance.

**VvV**

Sora and Mushu stood in front of the heartless and its eagle with weary expressions on their faces. The fight had dragged on and the two of them had lost a great deal of energy on their last attack.

"What are we going to do?" Mushu said in slight panic. He didn't get an answer and saw Sora with his eyes closed concentrating on something.

_**So you came to seek power?**_

Sora opened his eyes to see that he was in his stained glass once again. He turned around to come face to face with his smirking inner heartless.

"I hate to admit this but yes," Sora said with a frown.

"**How the mighty have fallen!" **his heartless said with a maniacal laugh. "**Weren't you the one who said that you didn't need me!"**

"Well now I do," Sora said with a serious expression on his face. "I know for a fact that if I die then you die too so you need me to live."

"**That makes sense," **his heartless said with a smirk. "**But what makes you think that I'll lend you my power so easily."**

"Because you and I are the same and your powers are technically mine!" Sora said with an angry expression.

"**Fine!" **his heartless said with a snarl. "**I'll lend you my power but know this. I'll make it as painful as possible!"**

Sora was enveloped on a dark aura and before he knew it he was back in the palace. The heartless and eagle were still standing in front of him. It was as if nothing had changed. He then remembered his heartless' last words before a dark aura surrounded him.

"Damn it," Sora said through gritted teeth as the dark aura consumed him. His wounds disappeared and his skin started to turn pitch black. "NO! I won't turn into a heartless!" Sora started to use his own power to fight the darkness and red sparks started to come out of the dark aura that swirled around him.

"S-Sora?" Mushu asked in awe at the power that was coming off of him. The aura grew to a point where Sora was shielded from everyone's view. When the aura died down Mushu stared at Sora in slight fear. His clothes had turned red and he now had two keyblades, his heavy one and his original one. His hair was now spikier, giving him a feral look and had black streaks on it. What Mushu feared was the change in his eyes. The white part of his eyeball was now pitch black, his iris was a dark yellow color and his pupil was pitch black.

"Don't be scared Mushu, I'm still me," Sora said with a smirk. He felt a lot more powerful than on his normal form which he called 'Valor' and felt like he could do anything. "What's wrong you stupid heartless? Weren't you attacking me before?"

The heartless roared in anger and charged at Sora with its fist raised. Sora smirked and lifted his keyblade to stop the heartless' fist. The heartless' fist made contact with the keyblade but it didn't budge. It stayed in midair with its fist on the keyblade before Sora used his other keyblade to cut his extended arm off. The heartless screeched in pain and threw its other fist at Sora, only to have him push its arm away with his keyblade and chop it off with the other. Before the heartless could do anything else Sora pointed the tip of his keyblade at the heartless.

"Wind," Sora muttered as a strong black wind pushed the heartless aside and cut it in several places. Sora looked up and saw the eagle preparing to dive at him only to be caught on a large fireball.

"I got it!" Mushu yelled in excitement. Sora chuckled and stood in a battle stance when he saw the heartless getting up. The heartless roared and fired a large dark fireball at the throne rooms' ceiling before flying out the newly made hole.

"Stay here," Sora ordered as he used all his strength to jump out of the hole. He landed on the roof and saw that the heartless was headed to the palace's entryway, where Auron was fighting. Taking a closer look Sora saw that Auron was fighting a man, too far away to know who it was. It was then that Sora remembered the orb he had gotten from the old lady. He took it out and pushed it on his keyblade and watched in amazement as it seemed to melt into it. His keyblade glowed in a bright light before changing shape. The handle remained the same but the blade changed. Now there was a black chain covering it and it came from where the blade started where there now was a black circle that appeared to be a reel.

Without a second thought Sora swung his keyblade at the flying heartless' direction and watched in amazement as the blade extended until it wrapped around the heartless' torso. Sora was pulled off the palace roof by the retreating heartless and his extra weight made it lose its balance and fall to the ground. Sora was coming down too but when he was near the ground, he rolled to lessen the damage.

"Look who came by," Auron said with a smirk. Sora turned around in surprise and saw a smirking Auron facing Braig.

"It's that the guy from the woods?" Sora asked as he stood up.

"Yeah he's Braig," Auron said with a frown. "What happened to you?"

"I took some of my heartless' power," Sora answered while eying the heartless that was now standing next to Braig.

"Looks like its two against two," Braig said with a smirk. "Let's see how this turns out." The heartless begin to hover in the air and Braig jumped on its back with his two Lance Shooters held high.

"Any ideas on what to do?" Auron asked with a frown.

"Only a few," Sora answered with a smirk. He then became enveloped in black wind while Auron followed his lead and became enveloped in a normal wind. Auron felt lighter and finally got what Sora was planning.

"Nice plan kid," Auron said with a smirk. The heartless became enveloped in a purple aura and charged at the two.

"Let's go!" Sora yelled as he dashed at the heartless while Auron stayed in place. Sora swung his keyblades at the heartless but stopped since he had to cover to lances thrown by Braig. The heartless took this opportunity and used its head to knock Sora to the ground. Seeing this, Auron dashed at the heartless and brought down his sword on the heartless only to have it blocked by a lance shooter. He gasped in surprise but was then forced to retreat when he saw a lance going for his head.

Auron landed on the ground with a weary look while Sora slowly got up. Before they could do anything several lances were shot in their direction but they were blocked by a large wave of fire. Sora turned to see Mushu with a smug expression on his face.

"I knew you needed me," Mushu said with a smile.

"Thanks," Sora muttered as his black eyes glared at Braig. "Do you still want to go with my idea," he yelled at Auron.

"Yeah let's try again," Auron answered.

"Cover us Mushu," Sora said to the dragon as he became enveloped in a black wind. Sora dashed at the heartless but this time Mushu blocked any lance thrown at Sora. When he was close enough, Sora stabbed his keyblade into the heartless. The heartless roared in pain and Braig was almost thrown off by the heartless' wails. Wasting no time, Sora extended the chain of his keyblade and tied the heartless in it. He then put the handle on the ground by stabbing his other keyblade on the ground to hold the handle in place.

"Now Auron!" Sora yelled as he gathered all of his black wind into his right hand and pointed it at the heartless.

"I'm coming kid!" Auron yelled as he too gathered all of his wind into his right palm but he was on the opposite side of the heartless.

"Let's end this!" Sora yelled as he shot a large black wind at the heartless while Auron did the same. The two winds crashed into the heartless, making several cuts, and started to form into a tornado.

"What the-" Braig yelled as the black and grey tornado expanded. The wind cut into his skin and he found that he couldn't yell or do anything, he was doomed.

"Finish it kid," Auron said through pants.

"Right," Sora said through pants. His eyes and hair started to turn back to normal and so he knew that he didn't have much time left. He formed a large black fireball using his both hands and fired it off at the tornado. Due to the opposite energy the tornado exploded in a bright flash and threw everyone off their feet. Unfortunately Sora landed head first into the floor and everything went blank.

**VvV**

Sora heard an annoying beeping noise coming from next to him. He stirred from his sleep and opened his eyes to be met by a blinding light. He winced and closed his eyes again. It took him a few more tries but he finally opened his eyes to see that he was in a white hospital room with the window wide open. He figured it was noon since the sun shone brightly outside.

"You're awake," a voice said. Sora turned to his left to see Auron leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed.

"What happened?" Sora asked as he rubbed his eyes.

"We won," Auron said with a smirk. Seeing Sora's confused look he walked to a chair next to the hospital bed and sat down. "Our last attack took the heartless and Braig down but it created a large explosion that knocked you out."

"Right," Sora muttered as everything started coming back to him. "How long was I out?"

"Twenty hours at most," Auron answered. "As soon as you're discharged from the hospital we'll head for our next destination. We have a lot of time to make up."

"How is our patient doing?" asked a young nurse with black hair as she entered the room.

"I'm fine," Sora said with a nod. "When can I leave?"

"First I have to check if you're really okay," the nurse said with a smile. She walked to Sora's right and checked the readings on the machines. "It seems that you're okay to go. I'll just go talk to the doctor and then you may leave."

"Thanks," Sora said as he watched the nurse leave. "Did you meet that friend of yours?" he asked Auron when the door closed.

"As a matter of fact I did," Auron said with a frown. "The information he told me was not pretty though."

"What kind of information?" Sora asked with a frown.

"It doesn't concern you, don't worry," Auron answered. "Just be careful when you get back to Radiant Garden."

"Got it," Sora said with a grin. "What else are you going to teach me when we get back to training?"

"I'll teach you some new fighting styles with some magic here and there," Auron answered.

"Well what are we waiting for?" Sora said with a grin. He got off the bed and stretched his sore muscles. "Let's get going." With that the two went to get Sora checked out of the hospital.

**VvV**

Hours later Sora and Auron were walking in yet another road. They had just gotten out of the mountains and were now walking in a costal area. The sea could be seen in the distance and the air had a salty smell. A small shack could be seen in the beach and it had a large empty aquarium on the back. There was also a large coral reef near the shore and a metal one separated it from the ocean. Sora found this odd but felt that it wasn't really important.

"We're stopping here," Auron said with a sigh. The sun was now setting and Sora felt his weariness catching up to him.

"All right, where are we camping?" Sora said with a smile.

"I'll set up a camp on the beach," Auron said as he and Sora walked to the beach. "We have to camp far away from the water since the tide will go up."

"Okay, I'll get some firewood," Sora said as he walked off.

Auron took a couple of sleeping bags out of the large grey backpack he carried and laid them on the sand. He then took out some canned food and made a place for the fire. He couldn't help but feel sorry for Sora since he thought that getting firewood was easier than setting up camp.

Sora came back a few minutes later with some firewood held on his left arm while he still carried the heavy keyblade on his right. Sora walked to the camp and tossed the firewood on the sand before sitting on his sleeping back.

"Hey kid?" Auron asked as he set up the wood.

"What is it?" Sora asked with a yawn.

"How heavy is your keyblade right now?" Auron asked as he used a fire spell on the firewood and got a fire running.

"It's a hundred and ten pound right now, you said that I needed a break so you lowered the weight," Sora answered as he took one of the cans and opened it with his keyblade. Auron chuckled at this and shook his head.

"I need to raise the weight again," Auron said. Sora simply gave the weight to Auron without a second thought. He had grown used to his keyblade gaining weight all the time that he didn't really care anymore. Auron took out a keychain with the number one-hundred and fifty and attached it to the keyblade. The keyblade got bulkier before Auron tossed it at Sora who caught it before crashing to the ground due to the weight.

"Damn you Auron," Sora said through gritted teeth as he moved the keyblade next to his sleeping bag.

"Here," Auron said with a smirk as he passed Sora a can of beans. Sora took the can in hand and began to eat. Sora had never really been picky about food since growing up in Hollow Bastion didn't give everyone the chance to eat every day.

"Well, I'm calling it a day," Sora said when he finished the beans. He laid on the sleeping back and put his hands behind his head.

"See you tomorrow kid," Auron said with a small smile at seeing that Sora was already sleep. He was probably still weary from the fight in Land of the Dragons. Thinking back on the fight Auron couldn't help but feel proud of the kid's progress. Sora was nearing his level and he had only trained him for a week. He knew that Sora would do okay on the competition, hell he probably had the best chances of winning but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong soon.

"The best I can do is make sure the kid is ready for any trouble that comes his way," Auron muttered to himself as he laid on his sleeping back and let sleep overtake him, with his last thoughts being on what Li Shang had told him.

_Xehanort is seeking the princess' of heart out._

**Ch. 24 End**

**KH: Slave of Love Short**

Seifer, Rai and Fuu stood in front of an old warehouse. Seifer looked like he was planning something while Rai and Fuu had blank expressions on their face.

"Any ideas?" Seifer asked after giving up on thinking of a plan.

"None," Fuu answered.

"Roxas was the one to come up with plans ya know," Rai said while running a hand through his hair.

"It doesn't matter anymore," Seifer said with an angry look. "We will get what we want!"

"Correct," Fuu said with a nod.

"We will get our way ya know," Rai said with an angry look.

"WE WILL GET MORE TIME ON THE STORY!" the three yelled at the same time.

**A/N: Well this marks the end of the chapter. I guess that you can tell that I didn't know how to end the chapter. Thanks again for all of the reviews and please don't forget to review the story, it will bring faster chapters.**


	25. A Fisherman's Ambition

**Hey guys! Today I bring you a new update and good news. This will be the last chapter on Sora's small training trip. Next chapter will mark the beginning of The Keyblade Competition and I'm really looking forward to writing it. I'd like to thank you guys for reviewing and I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts**

**Kingdom Hearts: Slave of Love**

_**Keyblade Arc**_

**Ch. 25 A Fisherman's Ambition**

The sun rose on the lonesome beach. The tide began to go down and birds came out to roam the skies. There was the sound of singing on the beach but it was but a whisper next to the sound of the waves crashing on the white sand. The sun's rays found their way to Sora's face, making the teen stir and groan.

_The sun, my mortal enemy, _Sora thought as he sat up and yawned. He stretched his back until it popped and scratched his head. He saw that Auron was still sleeping and growled when he noticed that Auron was somehow under the shade of a palm tree. He then got up and headed to the water. For some reason he always enjoyed being in the beach. He loved the warmth of the beach more than the sea itself. The warmth was not overbearing and it made him feel relaxed. He did enjoy swimming and any other water activities even though he had gone to the beach a few times but he would always stay in the sand most of the times.

"Guess I'll go for a little swim," Sora muttered to himself as he walked to the water and took off his shirt and vest. He felt the cool water on his feet and without a thought jumped into the deeper part of the water. He felt cold at first but soon got used to the temperature. He began to swim around and decided to check out the coral reef. It was blocked by a tall metal wall that probably reached to the bottom of the water so he had to get out of the water in order to get there. As he walked to the coral reef he began to hear a voice. It wasn't talking or anything, it sounded like it was singing. As he got closer he started to hear more of the song and found it to be a sad tune. He got into the water and swam to the coral reef and was surprised to see that the song seemed to be coming from there.

"Might as well see what's up," Sora muttered as he entered the coral reef. When he got in his eyes widened and he stood agape at what was in front of him. There was a woman with red hair wearing only a clam bra singing a song near the surface with a yellow fish. This wasn't what got Sora surprise since he had his own beautiful redhead back home, no, what got him surprised was the fish tail that she had instead of legs.

When the mermaid spotted him she quickly submerged in the water with a look of fear along with the fish. Sora felt a little uneasy since for some reason he felt that she would come out and drag him to the pits of the ocean. With a shake of his head he dismissed that thought and tried to communicate with the mermaid.

"Umm…if you're there then there's no need to be scared. I'm not a bad guy I just want to know what you're doing here," Sora said as he sat on top of a rock. He sat there for a few minutes before sighing and giving up. When he was about to go back to the beach he heard the sound of water splashing. Sora grinned at the re-emerged mermaid and put up his hands as a sign that he wasn't gong to attack hair.

"I'm Sora what's your name?" he asked.

"My name is Ariel," the mermaid said after a small pause.

"Well then, nice to meet you Ariel," Sora said with a smile. "I might be going straight to the point but what are you doing here? I thought that a mermaid would avoid being on the shore."

"I'm here because a man locked us in," Ariel said while pointing at the steel wall. "I was here because I find the things on land to be fascinating but when I was about to leave that wall rose up."

"So the wall is blocking your way home?" Sora asked. Ariel nodded with a sad look and Sora thought of a solution to her problem, it was then that he remembered the shack on the beach. Could the person living there have something to do with this? "Don't worry Ariel, I'll find a way to get you home," he said with a grin.

"Really? You would do that for us?" Ariel asked with a smile.

"Us?" Sora asked in confusion. It was then that he noticed that the yellow fish from earlier was standing behind the mermaid.

"Yes us. This is Flounder a friend of mine," Ariel said with a smile.

"Nice to meet you Flounder," Sora said as he stretched his hand to the fish. The fish looked at his hand oddly before sticking out its fin to touch it. "Don't worry you guys I'll do something about that wall."

"Thank you, we really appreciate it," Ariel said with a happy smile.

"Don't worry about it," Sora said with a smile as he got back to the beach.

When Sora got back to camp he was met by a scene that was probably crafted by the gods. Auron was snoring loudly on his sleeping bag while a crab was walking dangerously close to his face. Sora held his breath in anticipation and tried to hold back his laughter and excitement when he saw the crab get closer. He saw the crab move its pincer to Auron's nose.

_Almost there, _Sora thought with a grin. All of the sudden Auron's hand shot up, picked up the crab and finally threw it at Sora. The crab landed on Sora's hand and took hold of his thumb.

"AAAHHH dammit!" Sora yelled as he tried to pry the crab off. Auron chuckled at the sight of Sora running around the beach with a crab on its thumb. When Sora finally got the crab off he gave Auron a death glare.

"What's wrong kid?" Auron asked with an amused expression. Sora was about to retort but stopped when he heard approaching steps. He turned around and was met by a men at his thirties with a black ponytail and many scars on his face.

"Can we help you we something?" Auron asked the man.

"I just want to know what a couple of swordsmen are doing here," the man asked with a forced smile.

"We're traveling as you can see and decided to rest here for a while," Auron said while giving the man a calculating glance.

"Splendid," the man said with a smirk. "You probably want to start packing so I'll be going then." The man prepared to leave but stopped when he saw Sora eyeing him in confusion.

"Why do you want us gone so bad?" Sora asked with a frown. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you're hiding something."

"Well it's a good thing you do know better then," the man said with a smile.

"Enough," Sora said with a frown, tired of feeding around the bush. "Why did you put a giant metal wall in front of the coral reef?" If Sora was being honest he would admit to not really knowing if the man really put the wall there. In fact, he was actually hoping to get an answer from his false accusation.

"So, I take it you guys are here because of the wall I set up," the man said with a smirk.

"Can't believe it worked," Sora muttered with a smile.

"Since you two are travelers then you might not know but this beach is famous for its many sightings of mermaids," the man explained. "I managed to corner a mermaid into my little trap. I can already taste the fortune that the mermaid will bring me. If you two help me catch it, I'll give you a handsome reward."

"You can forget it!" Sora exclaimed with an angry look. "I promised Ariel that I would set her free and I'll never turn on a friend because of money or anything else!"

"You leave me no choice then," the man said with a smirk. "I guess I have to kill you two."

"Remind me again why I let you run off by yourself," Auron said to Sora with a sigh. Sora simply grinned and shrugged his shoulders.

"This is the end for you," the man said as gusts of wind started to surround him.

"You don't know how many times I've heard that," Sora said with a grin as he got on a battle stance.

"I'll leave this to you kid," Auron said as he began to walk away from the beach. "You started this and you should end it. It's time you learned that some fights can only be fought by yourself," he said to Sora's shocked look.

"In other words, you don't like being bothered in the morning," Sora said with a sweatdrop.

"Exactly," Auron said before disappearing in the distance.

"Why don't you do like your friend and leave?" the man asked with a smirk.

"You're still here?" Sora asked with a bored expression.

"That's it!" the man yelled with a furious look. "Nobody ignores me and lives to tell about it!"

"Did you say something?" Sora asked again as he stared at a flying bird.

"Die!" the man yelled as he shot two gusts of wind at Sora who only lifted his keyblade. The man smirked but gasped when he saw that the keyblade had stopped his attacks. Sora smirked and faked a yawn, further annoying the man. The man shot another gust of wind only to see Sora block it with his keyblade again.

"Is this really it?" Sora asked with a frown. To his surprise the man smirked and pointed to his feet. Confused, Sora glanced at his feet and gasped when he saw that they were being enveloped in sand. Before he could do anything the sand started to drag him down. Sora quickly used a wind spell to shoot himself off the sand but gasped in pain when he felt a gust of wind hit him square in the chest. Sora landed with a hard thud and gritted his teeth in pain.

"You're all talk aren't you?" the man said with a smile. "I guess it is appropriate I give you my name before you die. I am Dagan one of the top fisherman and warriors to ever walk this lands."

"You sound like a swelled headed idiot to me," Sora said as he got up and held his chest in pain.

"Me a swell headed idiot? Then what does that make you?" Dagan asked with a smirk. "It looks to me that your overconfidence is what made put you in this predicament."

"W-what?" Sora muttered to himself with wide-eyes. It suddenly made sense why Auron had left him to fend off for himself in order to open his eyes. Sora cursed himself for being overconfident just because his powers had grown. The first lesson Auron had taught him was that even the strongest of warriors could be killed by overconfidence.

"I'd like to say it was fun but then I would be lying wouldn't I?" Dagan said with a smirk. He began to gather winds and shot them at Sora without a second thought. The impact picked up dust and the area where Sora had been was shielded from view. "What a waste of time."

"Take this!" a voice said from behind Dagan. Dagan's eyes widened when he saw Sora running at him with his keyblade gripped tightly. Sora brought the keyblade down on Dagan but his eyes widened in surprise when he saw that Dagan had used wind to protect himself. Sora jumped away from the man and threw his keyblade at him with a boomerang. Dagan wasn't expecting this but simply changed the keyblade's course with a gust of wind.

"Damn, this guy is good with wind," Sora muttered to himself as a trickle of sweat ran down his face. He saw his keyblade coming back and took it in hand but almost fell over due to the weight. _Damn, I'm still not used to the added weight, _he thought with a frown.

"Wind!" Dagan yelled. Sora looked up and gasped when he saw a miniature sandstorm coming his way.

"Reflect!" Sora exclaimed as he was surrounded by a clear barrier. The barrier sustained the sandstorm but could only do so for so long. Sora saw that it was beginning to crack and that the sandstorm was nowhere near finished. He began to think of what to do but was brought out of his thoughts when his barrier finally broke and he was hit by the strong winds. He slammed into a nearby rock and cried in pain. He was going thirty miles per hour at least when he was slammed into the rock. Sora felt a few of his ribs break but the wind hadn't let up. He tried to resist the wind but it was too strong and slammed him into the sand.

"How did you like my last attack?" the man asked when the sandstorm was over. Sora was panting heavily as he began to stand up. "I use simply wind spells here and due to the sand a sandstorm is created. Pretty ingenious don't you think?"

"Pretty stupid don't you think?" Sora asked with his gaze on the floor and his hair covering his face.

"What is?" Dagan asked with an amused smirk.

"Telling me how your attack works!" Sora exclaimed as he raised his face to show his now yellow eyes with black pupils. Dagan was thrown off by this transformation and it was then that he noticed that Sora's clothes were now a dark blue. Sora's feet appeared to be floating but this was due to a constant wind spell that pushed down on the earth. Before Dagan knew what was happening Sora was next to him and slashed his torso before throwing him away with a strong wind spell.

"Looks like you have some skill in you after all," Dagan said with a smirk. "Let's see how you do against my sandstorm a second time!"

"Here we go," Sora muttered to himself as he saw the sandstorm approach him. "Now!" He fired his own wind spell and the two attacks collided with each other. Sand was flying everywhere, trees shook violently, even the water was being pushed back but the two didn't let up on their attack. Finally the two attacks canceled each other out and both Sora and Dagan were thrown back by the force of the strong blast of wind.

"Damn," Sora muttered as he began to stand up. He was barely holding onto his newfound form but knew that he could only maintain it for a few more minutes.

"Curse you," Dagan said as he stood up and glared at Sora. His clothes were torn, his hair was no longer in a pony tail and he was covered in small cuts.

"Looks like we dug our on graves with that last attack, huh?" Sora asked with a weary smile.

"You're really something else," Dagan said with a small smirk. "Looks like the last attack will decide the outcome of our fight."

"Looks like it," Sora said with a grin. "Before we end this thought, I need to know why. Why you're doing this!"

"I already told you that I'm doing it for money," Dagan said with an angry expression. "There's nothing else that matters in this cruel world."

"You're really stupid then," Sora muttered with a look of fury on his dark yellow eyes. "What about friendship, happiness, love? Are you telling me that those things don't matter? I really don't understand how anybody can think so little of life."

"You're just a kid," Dagan said with anger. "You don't know anything about how hard life can be."

"Don't ever imply that I don't know pain, suffering or any other hardships that life throws at you!" Sora yelled in anger. "I was tossed aside like an old rag when I was still a kid. You don't know the things I went through so don't talk like you're the only one that had it rough! Not once did I give up of dreaming on a happy life! I knew that it would come sooner or later, unlike you I worked hard to improve myself and I met friend along the way! People that I made bonds with that will never break! I'll show you that there's more to life than pain and selfishness!"

"You make sense kid but I will not be swayed by your words," Dagan said with a frown. "You and I are a lot alike. I can tell that you've gone through the same pain I have, I can see it in your eyes. So let's put our fates to the test here!"

"Fine, I'll show you why I will never lose to people like you!" Sora yelled as he gathered wind on both of his hands and pointing them at Dagan.

"Let's see your friendship handle this!" Dagan exclaimed as he too gathered wind on his hands and pointed at Sora.

"Wind!" they both yelled as strong gusts of wind came out of each of their hands. The winds collided with each other with great force and pushed each other back. One second Sora's wind was pushing Dagan's back and the other the opposite was happening.

"Die!" yelled Dagan as he put more power into his attack and begin to push Sora's back.

"I won't lose!" Sora yelled as he remembered all of the hardships he came through and all of his friends. He felt that he would fail them if he lost now. This man was saying that friendship wasn't important, that all the bonds with his friends had been worthless. Sora wasn't going to allow a man with these views to win, ever. With a yell Sora put everything behind his spell and watched as it began to push Dagan's back.

The wind was so ferocious now that the steel wall began to break and some trees had been knocked down. Auron approached the area and could see the resolve on Sora's eyes. His pupil had forgotten the essentials of battle and Auron was glad that he had remembered them.

"You can do this kid," Auron muttered as the attacks continued to collide.

"Take this!" Sora yelled as his attack finally overpowered Dagan's. Dagan gasped in disbelief and could do nothing as the wind spells were pushed towards him. He stopped pushing the attack and could now see what the teen had been talking about. He felt that he would die here and nobody would ever think of him again. His money was no good where he was going and there would be no trace of him left in the world, not even a single memory. He was brought out of his thoughts when he saw a chain wrap around his foot and pull him away from the spells.

The spells crashed against the shack, destroying it instantly, and a ferocious wind flew in all directions. The steel wall was now lying on the beach with many dents and holes and large waves were thrown against the current.

When the wind died down Sora was leaning against a tree, gasping for air, with the chain of his keyblade wrapped around Dagan's foot. Dagan had a look of disbelief on his eyes and he felt completely drained of energy. He couldn't believe that Sora had saved him on the last minute, maybe the kid was right after all for he had never met anyone who could beat him with wind spells.

"Busy morning huh kid?" Auron asked with an amused smile.

"Tell me about it," Sora said with a smile. He dismissed the keyblade's chain and began to walk towards the beach.

"Where are you going kid?" Auron asked.

"I'm going to see a friend of mine," Sora answered with a smile. Auron shook his head at Sora's carefree attitude, it was one of the things that he respected about the kid.

Sora neared the shore and saw Ariel sticking her head out of the water. She had a bright smile on her face and Sora could see Flounder's shadow next to her.

"Thank you Sora," Ariel said with a smile.

"Don't worry about it," Sora answered with a grin. "I made a promise after all right."

"I'm sorry but I have to go, my father is probably worried about me," Ariel said with an apologetic look.

"Don't let me stop you from going back home," Sora said with a smile. "Go home to your friends."

"Thanks for everything Sora. If you ever want to visit you know where to find us," Ariel said before diving in the water and disappearing from sight. Sora could have sworn he heard the sound of singing but then again he could be imagining things.

**VvV**

Later that day Sora and Auron were ready to leave and stood opposite of Dagan who carried a large backpack on his back.

"Thank you for putting me on the right track kid," Dagan said with a smile.

"No worries. It was my pleasure to kick your butt," Sora said with a smug grin.

"Don't let it go to your head again," Auron said with a sigh. The three of them laughed at that, enjoying the light mood.

"Guess this is goodbye," Dagan said.

"No," Sora said with a grin. "There's never 'goodbyes' between friends, there's only 'see you laters.'"

"Humph, I never thought I would have a kid for a friend," Dagan said with a small smirk. "I'll see you later then." With that Dagan walked away from the duo giving them a small wave.

"See you later and next time we'll have a spar instead of a fight!" Sora yelled when Dagan was out of earshot. Dagan raised his hand and gave a thumbs up. "What year did he get stuck on?" Sora thought with a sweatdrop.

"Let's get going kid," Auron said. Sora nodded and walked next to Auron.

"Where to next?" Sora asked.

"It's finally time for the Keyblade Competition," Auron said. "Our next and final stop is Radiant Garden."

"Radiant Garden," Sora muttered with a smile. He finally got the chance to get back to Kairi and all of his friends. He was a little nervous of seeing Kairi again as she had proclaimed herself her boyfriend, but he was happy nonetheless. He knew that his friends had trained hard and couldn't wait to see what they could do.

"Radiant Garden, here we come," Sora muttered to himself with a determined expression.

**Ch. 25 End**

**KH: Slave of Love Short**

Heartless Sora sat on a desk in the middle of Sora's stained glass. The desk had a coffee mug and a Wisdom Form Sora figurine on the side.

"**Welcome to the Heartless Corner," **started Sora's heartless. "**I am your host and accompanying me is my good friend Riku."** Riku was sitting next to Heartless Sora with a frown.

"I'm not your friend okay. All you did was slash my torso and that was it," Riku said with an angry expression.

"**Whatever," **Heartless Sora said with a sadistic smirk. "**Today we'll be talking about useless Sora's Wisdom Form. In this form he's able to float in the air and use stronger magic spells, of course his nothing compared to me but nobody listens to me right?" **Heartless Sora said with an angry yell.

"Calm down or we'll get kicked out," Riku said with a nervous expression. "We don't want that do we?"

"**I'll show you what I want. What I want is to KILL YOU ALL HAHAHAHA!" **Heartless Sora started but stopped when everything went blank.

"Dammit I told you that we were going to get kicked out!" Riku's angry voice yelled.

**A/N: This is the end of this chapter and I hope you like it. The "Heartless Corner" segment will be used whenever I add new forms or attacks, in order to get everyone familiar with what the forms and attacks can do. This is all and please review.**


	26. The Competition Begins!

**Here's the next chapter guys. This chapter marks the beginning of the Keyblade Competition. The following chapters will be very fun to write since I've been dying to write them since a long time ago. I'd also like to thank all of those who reviewed, you don't know how much I appreciate it.**

**Before we began I'd like to tell you that I'll make Wisdom Form stronger since it's really weak in the game. I will go into depth of its new abilities later on the story. Well I'm done talking so please enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts**

**Kingdom Hearts: Slave of Love**

_**Keyblade Arc**_

**Ch. 26 The Competition Begins!**

The sun shone on a lively Radiant Garden. The streets were crowded, loud cheers were heard and people gathered on the large stadium on downtown Radiant Garden. Today was the Keyblade Competition, which was hosted every two years, and people were exited to see what this year had to offer. The competition would officially start at two in the afternoon but the stadium was already half-filled even though it was only twelve-thirty. The stadium was a sight to behold, it was one of the highest building in Radiant Garden and was made from the dark blue stone from the mountains.

Roxas, Namine, Kairi and Akira stood in front of front of the stadium. They had arrived with Aqua, Terra, Hayner and Selphie but they had stayed behind in order to wait for Sora.

"When will he get here?" Roxas asked with an annoyed expression. They had been waiting for the teen to arrive for about half an hour and he was starting to get impatient.

"Don't worry he'll get here eventually," Namine said with a sigh.

"Well I'm getting kind of tired of waiting here, I might as well go wait for him on the competitors lounge," Roxas said as he turned to leave.

"I guess I'll be going too," Namine said as she walked off with Roxas.

"Those two are getting closer," Kairi said to Akira with a smile.

"What do you mean?" Akira asked in confusion.

"Never mind," Kairi said to the girl, understanding that a little girl couldn't understand relationships.

"Hey Kairi," Akira said with a worried look. Kairi smiled and at the girl and motioned her to keep going. "Will Sora arrive on time?"

"Don't worry about it," Kairi said with a smile. "I know Sora and he's the kind of person who doesn't break his word. After all he has us waiting for him."

"Right," Akira said with a smile.

**VvV**

Xehanort walked alongside a hooded Riku in one of the stadium's hallways. Xehanort had a slight hunch as he walked and both of his hands were on his back. Riku walked in a composed way, carrying himself with an aura of darkness.

"We're finally here Riku," Xehanort said with a fake smile. Riku only scoffed and kept walking. "Remember all that I taught you and you'll do fine."

"Even if you hadn't trained me I would beat all of the worthless trash," Riku said.

"Funny, you came to me because you couldn't beat one person and now you're referring to him as if he was trash," Xehanort said with a smirk.

"He's only a slave, nothing but trash," Riku said with a frown.

"Looks can be deceiving my pupil. Remember to always expect the unexpected," Xehanort said with an amused smirk. "He defeated you not once but twice. I believe that makes him different, don't you think?"

"He only got lucky," Riku said with a glare.

"Just get in there and remember to beat all of those who might pose a threat to my plans," Xehanort said before walking away from the teen. "Hopefully the pawn will play its part," he muttered with a frown once Riku was out of earshot.

**VvV**

It was now one-thirty and Sora had yet to arrive. Kairi and Akira were still waiting for Sora but were now sitting on a bench eating some sea-salt ice cream. The two were getting worried since Sora didn't have a lot of time to arrive.

"Why isn't he here yet?" Akira asked with a pout. The girl had grown restless after the first thirty minutes of waiting, nobody could blame her though.

"Don't worry he'll make it," Kairi said with a worried look. She herself was starting to think that Sora wouldn't make it. He only had thirty minutes before the competition began and there was still no sign of him.

"Dammit kid stop worrying for just one second!" the two girls heard a voice from the distance. They turned to their right and smiled in happiness. Sora was running on the distance next to an annoyed looking Auron. They were running past crowds and Kairi giggled when she saw Sora barely avoid an old lady that just stood there.

"Sora!" Akira exclaimed happily as she ran to him. Sora heard his name being called and turned towards the voice. He gave a happy smiled as he recognized the small girl.

"Akira," Sora said with a smile as he walked to the girl. Akira jumped on Sora's chest and gave him hug. "How you've been?"

"Good, I got to play with everyone and Kairi took me to a lot of fun places," the girl said happily.

"I'm glad you had fun," Sora said with a smile. He turned his gaze to his right and saw Kairi approaching. He stood awkwardly for a moment before recomposing himself and smiling at her. "Kairi."

"It's good to see you again," Kairi said with a smile. Akira saw the two and got off of Sora to give the two some space.

"I'm sorry I was kind of late but," Sora was cut off by Kairi who embraced Sora in a hug.

"I'm glad you're back," she whispered to Sora's chest. Sora was shocked at fist but smiled at the redhead and hugged her back. "I missed you so much," she tightened her grip on Sora and fought back tears of happiness.

"I missed you too," Sora said as he too tightened his grip on the redhead. "I promise that if I ever have to leave again, I'll take you with me."

"We have to seal that promise then," Kairi said as she turned her gaze to Sora's eyes.

"Really, how?" Sora asked in confusion.

"Like this," Kairi said as crashed her lips with Sora's. Sora was shocked at first but closed his eyes and kissed back. It felt even better than before. The kiss portrayed how much they missed each other and they found themselves lost in each others lips. It was just the two of them for that small time until a voice broke them apart.

"There's a kid present you know," Auron said with a smirk. The two teens broke apart and blushed at their show of public affection.

"Shut up Auron," Sora said with an embarrassed blush.

"You have to get going Sora," Kairi said with a smile and a small blush on her cheeks.

"Get going where?" Sora asked with a confused expression.

"You gave to go into the stadium before you're kicked out, idiot," Auron said with a sigh.

"Oh, right," Sora said with a sheepish expression. "I guess I'll see you guys later."

"Yeah I'll be here to clobber you if you lose the first round," Auron said with a smirk.

"No way! Sora is going to beat everyone," Akira said to Auron with an angry expression.

"I'll see you later Kairi," Sora said with a smile.

"Yeah I'll be waiting for you since you owe me a date," Kairi said with a smile. Sora nodded and entered the stadium through the competitor's entryway.

"Tell the kid I had to meet up with one of my contacts," Auron said before walking off. Kairi nodded at the man before turning to Akira.

"Let's find some seats before they're all taken," Kairi said with a smile. Akira nodded and took Kairi's hand as the two entered the stadium.

**VvV**

Sora walked into the competitor's lounge, noticing all of the people who hoped to win the tournament. The lounge was large and had white walls. There was a large tv hanging on a wall and many benches and tables were around the room. There was a large crowd of people but it wasn't too big in Sora's opinion, maybe twelve of fourteen people stood there. He spotted his friends sitting on a few benches and walked over to them.

"Hey guys," Sora said with a grin. The group turned to Sora and looked shocked for a second before breaking into grins.

"Hi Sora, how was your trip?" Aqua asked with a smile.

"It was kind of interesting," Sora said with a grin, remembering all of the crazy times he had on the road.

"When did you get here Sora? We were waiting for you outside but got tired and left," Roxas said.

"I got here like ten minutes ago," Sora said with a thoughtful expression.

"I hope that you didn't waste your time since I'm coming at you with everything I got," Terra said with a smirk.

"Don't worry, I'm sure that you'll be surprised," Sora said with a smirk of his own. It was then that he noticed Xion standing not too far from the group, reading a book. "Why isn't Xion sitting with you guys?"

"Well she said that we were too loud and that she couldn't read her book with all of us talking, she was here when we got here so she's probably good with being alone," Hayner explained.

"Well I guess its best to leave her alone for now," Sora said with a shake of his head. "So how will this work? I have no idea who I'll be up against."

"An official will arrive soon and he'll tell us who will fight. From what I've heard, once you sign yourself up for the competition they find a spot for you," Aqua explained.

"So I'm already paired up to fight some random guy?" Sora asked.

"It could be anybody," Terra said. "Even us." Sora nodded in understanding and grinned. This would prove a lot more fun than he thought.

"Attention! Attention!" came the voice of a short man wearing reading glasses. He wore black overalls and a white dress shirt. His black hair was combed back and he had a clipboard on hand. "I will now show you who'll you'll be facing on the competition."

The man snapped his fingers and the tv turned on. It showed a blank tournament tree with sixteen slots. There was loud cheering coming from outside and Sora guessed that the crowd was being showed what the competitors were.

"The first match will be, Charles vs. Lee," the official said as the two names appeared on the tournament tree.

"I guess I'll be the first to demonstrate my skill," said a teen with blond curly hair that reached his shoulders.

"Second match will be, Hayner vs. Chang," the official said, again the names appeared on the tree and loud cheering came from outside.

"All right, I'll be second," Hayner said with an exited grin.

"Third match will be, Terra vs. Setzer," the official said with a sweatdrop at all of the female cheering coming from outside.

"I will show all of my beautiful fans a true show," said a man with long silver hair. Terra simply sweatdropped and waited to see who'll be fighting next.

"The fourth match will be, Isa vs. Chikao," the official said. The loud cheers were heard again since Isa was one of the finalists on the last competition.

"I'll deal with these losers quickly," said the man known as Isa. He had an x-shaped scar on the middle of his face and bluish hair.

"The fifth match will be, James vs. Riku," at this there were many cheers outside since Riku came from a well known family.

_Riku! _Sora thought in surprise. He looked around the room and finally found him leaning against a wall. He wore a hood but his silver hair was a dead giveaway. _He's different this time, like his presence is darker somehow, _Sora thought in concern.

"The sixth match will be, Aqua vs. Luis," there were cheers outside and a teen with curly brown hair raised a fist in the air.

"This shall be, how you say, glorious," Luis said with a French accent.

"The seventh match will be between Tidus and Haru," there were cheers outside and a teen with spiky brown hair crossed his arms.

"This will be intense," Tidus said with a smirk. Almost everyone in the room sweatdropped at the comment but kept their mouths shut.

"Um…match number eight will be Yuffie vs. Mak," at this a girl with short black hair stared at what people presumed to be Mak and grinned.

"Let's have a good match," Yuffie said to a teen with long black hair and green eyes.

"Shut up loser," Mak said with a frown.

"What did you say!" Yuffie yelled with fury in her eyes. Mak simply smirked and turned away from the girl.

"The ninth match will be, Xion vs. Daichi," the official said and a loud cheering came from outside. For the first time the official wasn't interrupted and continued to announce the matches. "The tenth match will be between Kazu and Kenji. The eleventh match will be between Jiro and Chiyo."

Sora was growing impatient at this point since his name hadn't been called out. He looked at Hayner and felt jealous that he was fighting second.

"The twelfth match will be, Koji vs. Emi," there were cheers outside and a girl with short brown hair smiled happily.

"Finally, for a second I thought I was going to be the last one," Emi said with a smile.

"Thirteenth match will be, Roxas vs. Makoto," the official said. Roxas sighed in relief, thankful he wasn't the last match and smirked at Sora.

"Well Sora knowing your luck, you'll probably be the last match," Roxas said.

"Shut up," Sora said with a glare.

"Fourteenth match will be, Kameyo vs. Masa," there was some cheers outside and everyone in the lounge was getting impatient to start the fights.

"The fifteenth match will be, Sora vs. Genkei," there were loud cheers outside and Sora jumped up from his seat and pointed a finger at Roxas.

"Ha, I told you I wouldn't be the last one," Sora said in victory. Roxas sighed and shook his head at his friends antics.

"And the last match will be between Ginjiro and Naomi," the official said as he closed his clipboard. "This will conclude all of the matches. Match number one will take place in five minutes." With that the official left and the two competitors walked to the hallway that would lead them to the arena.

"Good luck to you my friend," said the teen known as Charles.

"Same goes to you," said Lee.

**VvV**

Cid leaned against a wall of the stadium. The hallway was kind of dark and cheers could be heard. Apparently the first match had begun and Cid didn't really want to see some kids fight. He was a little interested in how Sora could do, since he had met the kid, but the other competitors didn't really interest him. He mused on the idea of Sora beating all of them with a few hits but knew that even if the kid had shown strength he was far from his limit. He pondered on the idea of training the kid and making him go out on missions for Radiant Garden but put the thought aside for now.

"Too bad the kid's fight won't start for a long time," Cid muttered as he took out a cigarette. There was a 'no smoking' sign next to him but he ignored it, in fact he used the sign to light a match. Before the fire could touch the cigarette it was blown off by a weak wind spell.

"You know you're not supposed to smoke here, Captain Cid," Auron said with an amused smirk as he walked to the blond man.

"Neh, nobody's around and its not like I could get arrested," Cid said as he put a finger to the end of the cigarette and lit it on fire. "What brings you here Auron?" he inhaled the smoke and let it out through his nose. He had a calm expression but knew that whatever Auron cam for was important.

"I got some news from Shang," Auron said with a frown. "Apparently Xehanort is looking for the princesses of heart."

"The princesses?" Cid asked as he inhaled more smoke. "I haven't heard of anyone wanting to do that except from history books."

"If he's seeking them out then it means that he knows something we don't," Auron explained. "From what I know, the princesses are used to open something. What it is, I don't really know."

"Knowing Xehanort whatever it is he's looking for can't be good," Cid said with a frown. He quickly turned his head to the far end of the hallway and motioned Auron to stop talking.

"My, my. Isn't this a hit of the past," said Xehanort as he approached the two men.

"What are you doing here?" Auron asked with a frown.

"What, are you telling me I can't come say hi to my old comrades?" Xehanort asked with a smirk.

"You should leave, you know you can't win against both of us," Cid said with a serious look.

"What makes you think I can't?" Xehanort asked with an amused expression. "For all you know I could have hidden followers around here. Better yet, I could have followers working under you."

"Leave now you bastard," Auron said as he took out his sword and pointed it at the man.

"Very well," Xehanort said with a smile. "We'll see each other really soon." With that Xehanort disappeared in a dark portal.

"Damn that Xehanort," Cid said through gritted teeth. "Knowing that bastard he probably really has some spies around."

"What are you going to do?" Auron asked with a frown.

"For now I'll get my must trusted men to investigate," Cid said with a sigh. "I'll stay here in case Xehanort shows up again."

"Very well. I'll go see how my pupil does in the competition," Auron said as he walked towards the end of the hallway that lead to the stands.

"You have a pupil?" Cid asked with a raise eyebrow.

"Yeah, his name is Sora," Auron said with a smirk.

"Sora? Then I take it you know who his parents were?" Cid asked.

"At first I didn't know but after I started training him on magic I figured it out," Auron explained with his arms crossed.

"I take it you also know of his inner heartless?" Cid asked as he threw the cigarette on the floor and put it out with his foot.

"Yes, in fact I taught him how to control it somewhat," Auron said with a smirk.

"That's not fair at all Auron," Cid said with an amused smile. "The kid is going to destroy the competition."

**VvV**

A panting Charles and Lee stood in front of each other with smirks on their faces. They had had a long fight and were both now weary. Charles had a large gash on his torso and some of his clothes had been torn during the fight. Lee wasn't much better, he had blood coming out of his mouth, a bleeding hand and his clothes were no better than Charles'.

"This last blow will decide everything won't it," Lee asked with an exited smile.

"You were a most formidable foe, even if I lose here I'll be glad to have lost to such a good opponent," Charles said with a smirk.

No more words were needed the only thing that mattered now was who would win the fight. The two teens dashed at each other wish their keyblades ready to strike. As Charles grew closer to Lee, the latter used a fire spell to push Charles away before bringing the keyblade down on his torso. Charles body fell limp on the ground and an official ran to the teen's fallen form.

"It looks like Charles is unconscious. Lee is the winner!" the official shouted on a microphone. The crowed roared in cheers and Lee vowed to the crowd before leaving the arena.

"Our next match it coming up. We'll take a five minute break before starting the next fight," the official said as he walked to the competitor's lounge.

**VvV**

Sora grinned at the victorious teen. Everyone had seen the fight on the big screen tv. Sora had thought that it had been a good fight, as everyone else in the room besides a certain silver haired teen. When Lee entered the room he received approving glances from the competitors and some congratulated him.

"Well Hayner looks like you're up next," Sora said as he turned to Hayner. The blond had an exited smile on his face and couldn't' wait for his fight.

"I can't wait!" Hayner said excitingly. "I'll finally show what I'm made of."

"Let's see if you can back up those words," said a teen with short black hair. He wore black slacks with a white t-shirt. Hayner noticed that he had bandages on his wrists and in the bottom of his slacks.

"Who are you?" Hayner asked with a frown.

"I am Chang," the ebony haired teen said. "I will be your opponent."

"Don't listen to him Hayner," Sora said with a grin. "Just remember to focus and you'll be fine."

"Thanks," Hayner said with a grin.

"Will Hayner and Chang step up," the official said. The two teens complied and walked up to the official while glaring at each other. "You're match will begin, now if you'll follow me." The three walked out of the lounge and onto the arena.

The first thing Hayner noticed when he entered the arena was the noise. Cheers was all he heard. He couldn't believe that people were this exited but he himself was getting pumped by the amount of cheers. He looked at the arena and smirked. The arena was large and was pretty much the entire floor of the stadium. The floor was a dark blue and had a large painting of a keyblade on the middle of the floor with the words 'Competition' on it.

"Take your side," the official said. Hayner walked to the left side of the arena while Chang walked to the right. They faced each other and smirked. They both knew that this was going to be a fun fight.

"Ladies and gentleman," the announcer shouted on his microphone. "I bring you the second match of the competition. On this side we have Chang, he competed on the last competition and places eight." There were loud cheers for the teen but some people booed. "On the other side we have Hayner. He's a first time competitor, give him a warm welcome." There were loud cheers for Hayner and he couldn't help but grin.

"Are you both ready?" the official asked the two teens. The two nodded and summoned their keyblades. Chang's keyblade had a black spiky handle and the blade was black with many spikes. "Begin!"

**Ch. 26 End**

**KH: Slave of Love Short**

Demyx walked though Namine's house with a scared look on his face. He had been walking on the hallways of Namine's large house for what appeared to be hours and couldn't find his way out.

"Hello! Anybody there!" Demyx yelled out. Tears formed on Demyx's eyes and he let out a whimper. "I want to get out of here! I feel like I'm getting forgotten on the story!"

"Welcome to the club," said Seifer who sat alongside Fuu and Rai.

"No! I won't end up like you. I'm comic relief!" Demyx exclaimed with anime tears running down his face.

"Haven't we all been there," Seifer muttered with a sad expression.

**A/N: Sorry if I left the story on a cliffhanger but hey it'll keep you guys on the edge. I know some of you were not expecting the whole Cid, Auron and Xehanort thing right. Well if you have any questions about this then don't worry they'll be answered soon but the questions regarding Sora's family will not be answered until the sequel. That is all and please review!**


	27. Darkness Approaches

**I bring you guys, yet another chapter! This chapter will introduce a new character that will be added to Sora's group of friends so get used to seeing this character in the story frequently. I feel that it didn't take me long to update since I consider two weeks to be the deadline for my updates. I always try to update before those two weeks are up and considering the size of this chapter then I guess that it took me a reasonable amount of time to update. I'm rambling again, what I want to say is please enjoy the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts**

**Kingdom Hearts: Slave of Love**

_**Keyblade Arc**_

**Ch. 27 Darkness Approaches**

"Begin!"

Not wasting any time, Hayner shot a metal needle from the tip of his keyblade at the smirking Chang. The needles neared Chang who only knocked the needles aside with his keyblade.

"Is that it?" Chang taunted with a smirk. From where he stood, he swung his keyblade. Hayner was a little thrown off since he was nowhere near striking distance but his eyes widened when Chang's keyblade extended. Hayner jumped to his left and avoided Chang's keyblade, just barely. Hayner took a couple of throwing knives and threw them at Chang. Chang blocked the knives with his still extended keyblade and swung at Hayner again.

"Damn, I can't hit him from long range," Hayner muttered to himself with a frown. Again, he threw a throwing knife at Chang.

"Fool," Chang said with an amused grin as he blocked the knife with his keyblade. When he prepared to swing at Hayner he gasped when he noticed that Hayner wasn't there anymore.

"I'm right here you idiot!" Hayner yelled from behind Chang as he launched needles from his keyblade. Taken by surprise, Chang only managed to block two needles before the third one stabbed into his right thigh. "I got you!" Hayner dashed at Chang with his keyblade raised high. Chang saw Hayner wide open and smirked.

"Idiot, you're wide open!" Chang exclaimed as he extended his keyblade and struck Hayner's stomach with the flat tip. Hayner got the wind knocked out of him and gasped in pain. Chang didn't give him a moment to rest and wrapped Hayner on his keyblade, squeezing him tightly.

"Give up now or I'll be force to end your life," Chang said with a smirk.

"You…you can't…do that," Hayner said while gasping for breath.

"Oh I can and it's perfectly legal here. Didn't you read the rules?" Chang asked as he tightened his grip on Hayner.

"I never read. It goes…against…everything I know," Hayner said through gritted teeth.

"Well, allow me to enlighten you then. It is allowed for a competitor to kill their opponent," Chang said with a smirk.

**VvV**

"Is it really okay to kill in the competition?" Roxas asked an official inside the competitor's lounge.

"Didn't anybody read the rules?" the official said with a sigh. He sweatdropped when he saw everyone on the room shake their head. "It isn't against the rules to kill your opponent. However it has never happened before since we usually stop the fight before it gets too bad."

"Hayner looks like he's in trouble," Aqua said with a frown.

"Don't worry I'm sure he'll get out of it," Sora said with a serious expression.

"How are you so sure?" Terra asked with a raised brow.

"I just know it. I don't think the fight will end so quickly," Sora said with a grin.

"Let's hope you're right," Roxas said with a frown.

**VvV**

"Are you going to give up yet?" Chang asked with a frustrated expression.

"N-no…way," Hayner said while gritting his teeth in pain.

"Okay then, I have no choice but to," Chang started but suddenly gasped in pain. His grip on Hayner loosened and Hayner quickly broke away from the keyblade and jumped away. "What did you do to me?"

"You didn't think that the needles from my keyblade are normal did you?" Hayner asked with a smirk as he tried to control his breathing. "It has a kind of poison that paralyzes my opponent."

"Damn," Chang muttered as his legs buckled under his weight and gave out. Chang fell face first into the floor and raised his head to meet Hayner's eyes. "You're good. Don't go and lose to anybody, it'll make me look bad."

"Chang has been paralyzed and his not fit for battle!" the official yelled through the microphone. "Hayner is the winner." The crowd cheered loudly and Hayner smiled. So far, the competition had lived to his expectations and he was glad to have won the first round.

**VvV**

"He did it!" Olette exclaimed happily and most of all loudly, making the group that sat with her nurse their ears.

Olette was sitting with the usual group of Namine, Kairi, Akira, Selphie and Demyx. They were seated on a large booth that Namine had paid for. It had nine cushiony seats that had a clear view of the battlefield.

"Geez Olette take it easy," Selphie said with an amused smile.

"I-I'm sorry lady Selphie," Olette said with an embarrassed blush.

"Please, call me Selphie. We all consider you a friend so relax a little," Selphie said with a smile.

"I'll try," Olette muttered.

"So Olette. Why were you cheering so loud for Hayner?" Namine asked with a knowing grin. "Did something happen between you two?"

"N-nothing happened," Olette exclaimed with a bright blush.

"I know something happened between you two and I think I know what," Namine said with a triumphant smile. "It was late night and you were walking in one of my hallways when Hayner got out of his room. He pushed you against a wall and kissed you passionately. He then began to suck on your neck and then he-"

"I think that's enough Namine," Kairi said with a nervous smile as she covered Akira's young ears.

"You guys are no fun," Namine said with a pout.

"Wow!" Demyx exclaimed suddenly. Everyone turned to him with questioning looks. "I just noticed that the stadium isn't circular, it's more of an oval shape."

"Wow," Namine said with a sweatdrop.

"Kairi when is it Sora's turn?" Akira asked impatiently.

"It might take a while but don't worry we'll see him," Kairi said with a smile. Akira seemed happy at Kairi's response and looked at the battlefield in hopes of seeing Sora.

"You're good with kids Kairi," Selphie said with a smile. "I never thought that it was possible."

"You never thought it was possible for me to care for someone?" Kairi asked with a glare.

"N-no not at all," Selphie said with a nervous laugh. "What I meant to say was that I never thought it was possible for someone to change as much as you."

"What do you mean?" Kairi asked with a curious expression.

"Well when school started you would sometimes look sad and some days you would just be angry for no reason," Selphie explained. "But now you seem happy, like you're a completely different person."

"I guess Sora had a big impact on you," Namine said with a smile. "I think I know how he got rid of your bad mood. I bet he found out that it wasn't really a bad mood but frustration, sexual frustration to be exact. So one day when you were tired from school he walked over to your bed and-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence," Kairi said with a death glare that made Namine stop talking.

"Attention everyone!" came the voice of the official through the speakers around the stadium. "The next match will commence in five minutes!"

"Who's up next?" Selphie asked the group.

"Its Terra against that Setzer guy," Namine said with a thoughtful expression. "I've heard that name before."

"Of course you have," Demyx said with a smile. "Terra is a friend of mine." Everyone sighed knowing that Demyx was a lost cause.

"Who knows? Some names just sound familiar," Kairi said with a shrug.

**VvV**

Hayner walked into the competitor's lounge to receive approving glances from everyone and smiles from his group of friends.

"Nice going there Hayner," Sora said with a grin.

"Who knew you were strong?" Terra said with a smirk.

"Thanks guys but that Chang guy really did a number on me," Hayner said with a tired sigh.

"Don't worry the next matches will start tomorrow," said one of the competitors.

"Thanks for the answer but who are you?" Roxas asked.

"Oops where are my manners, my name is James," said the older teen. He appeared to be near his twenties and had long black hair. His eyes were blue and he had slightly tanned skin. "Like I was saying, the competition has one round of matches daily. Meaning that this year it will last five days."

"So we will all get the rest of the day to rest after every match," Aqua said in an understanding tone.

"That's right pretty lady," James said, unaware of the death glare he received from Aqua. "The competition is actually part of a festival that welcomes winter into our land."

"So that's why there's a bunch of stands and games out there?" Hayner asked.

"Yup," James said with a smile. "I have to go now but it was nice talking to you." With that James walked over to a group of competitors that sat near the exit.

"Since there's so much going on outside, I'll probably take Kairi out there later," Sora said with a grin.

"Awww, our little Sora is all grown up," Roxas said in a teasing tone. "Whatever happened to the Sora that said that he wouldn't be tamed by any girl."

"He actually said that?" Xion asked, joining the conversation.

"Yeah he said that he would never be controlled by anyone and that the day he did, I would have to punch him on the face," Roxas said with a smirk.

"Oh come on. I was stupid back then, you can't hold it against me," Sora said with a pout.

"Whatever Sora," Aqua said with a smile.

"Will Terra and Setzer enter the arena?" came the voice of the official.

"Good luck man," Sora said with a smile.

"Don't worry I'll be finished soon," Terra said with a grin.

**VvV**

"Thank you for waiting ladies and gentleman," the official said though the microphone. "The next match will be between the newcomer Terra," there were loud cheers from people exited to see a new match. "He will go against Setzer!"

"Setzer!" Cheered the entire female population on the stands. The cheers grew when a man with long silver hair entered the stadium.

"Thank you my lovely fans," Setzer said with an arrogant laugh.

"I hope I can finish this quick, I already hate this guy," Terra said with a frown. He summoned his keyblade and faced Setzer.

"Let the fight, begin!" the official exclaimed.

Not wasting any time, Terra charged at Setzer with his keyblade held on his side. Setzer smirked and used a wind spell to push Terra back. Terra rolled his eyes at the weak gust and kept on charging at Setzer. When close enough he swung his keyblade horizontally but Setzer used his own keyblade to block Terra's attack. Setzer miscalculated the strength behind the attack and his keyblade was knocked aside. Terra threw a punch with his left hand, making contact with Setzer's jaw. Setzer was knocked back and landed hard on his back, much to the dismay of his female fans, and glared at Terra.

"You're way too weak," Terra said with a sigh. "Can't you just give up so I don't waste my time?"

"You truly are an admirable foe," Setzer said as he stood up and walked over to his keyblade. "How about we make a deal?"

"A deal?" Terra asked with a raised brow.

"Yes a deal," Setzer said with a smile. "If you throw the match for me, I'll make it worth your while."

"Are you crazy, I'll never throw the match," Terra said in anger. "Now I'm really going to kick your ass." With that Terra charged at Setzer again and before anybody knew it, was behind Setzer. Terra hit the back of Setzer's neck with the handle of his keyblade and knocked him unconscious.

"Winner is Terra," the official said with a yell. The crowd cheered but there were sounds of disappointment coming from the female portion of the crowd.

**VvV**

"I remember now!" Namine exclaimed with a smile.

"Remember what?" Selphie asked.

"Who that Setzer guy is," Namine explained. "He was named the most handsome competitor on the last competition."

"Really? He doesn't seem handsome to me at all," Kairi said with a thoughtful expression.

"That's because you have your little Sora," Selphie said with a kissy face. Kairi blushed and turned away from the girls.

"Don't worry Kairi," Namine said with a giggle at Kairi's shyness. "I don't think he's very good looking either."

"Of course," Demyx agreed. "That guy has nothing on me." Demyx struck a pose and winked at the girls.

"Sure," Selphie said with a nervous smile.

**VvV**

"Nice job Terra," Sora said as soon as Terra entered the student's lounge.

"You did great," Roxas said with a nod.

"It was nothing," Terra said with a sigh. "I can't believe I had to fight someone so weak, I only hope the next match is good."

"Don't worry Terra, I'm sure that it was a one time deal," Sora said with a chuckle.

"Hopefully," Terra sighed.

"Will Isa and Chikao follow me to the arena," announced the official. A guy in his late teens with bluish hair walked up to the official alongside a brown haired man with a heavy build. The three left the lounge without a word much to the irritation of most of the competitors.

If there was one thing that the competitors didn't like, it was arrogance. To everyone's bad luck a large portion of the competitors were arrogant. It wasn't that they hated this people it was just that some didn't have the patience to put up with them. The competition was supposed to be friendly and a way for people to meet other people with common interests, in this case wielding and fighting with a keyblade.

Sora already had a list of competitors whom he thought were arrogant and needed to be brought down from their self-made pedestal. Sora wasn't really one to judge people but arrogance was something he couldn't take. It reminded him of all the times when people would look down on him just because he came from Hollow Bastion. Even the people there looked down on each other but wouldn't really admit it.

"Who do you think will win the fight?" Hayner asked the group, breaking Sora's line of thought.

"I think that Isa guy will win," Roxas said with a serious expression. "You can tell by the way he walks that he knows how to handle himself."

"You always read too much into this things Roxas," Aqua said with a sigh. "I, for one, don't really care who wins this fight."

"I agree," Xion said with her eyes on her book. "This match should only be of concern to Terra."

"She's right, you'll end up facing the winner," Sora said with a nod.

"Well, I only hope that my match comes soon. I'm getting really impatient," Roxas said with a sigh.

**VvV**

Leon and Cloud walked through one of the hallways on the stadium used for the competition. The hallways didn't have a lot of people and loud cheers could be heard from the arena. The two assumed that a match was taking place at the moment. Leon had once entered the competition but to Cid asking him to do a solo mission. Cloud, on the other hand, had never competed since the competition never got his attention. He saw it as another one of the things that he will never understand.

Right now the two were on the stadium because Cid had asked for them specifically. They didn't really know what was going on but knew that if Cid asked for them, then it was something important. Leon and Cloud were two of the strongest people working under Cid. They had met Cid at a young age and had been training under him until he deemed them strong enough to work under him. Since they were on Cid's elite forces they were given places to live by Cid. It was one of the things that made Cid a generous men. To all of those who he put on his elite forces, he would pay for a house or apartment for them to live at. The homes and apartments were always close to were Cid was stationed. The reason being that Cid needed his strongest men close at all times in case of an emergency.

Cid could be seen leaning against a wall on the distance alongside a man wearing an eye-patch. The two didn't really know who the other man was but approached Cid while eyeing the men quizzically.

"You asked for us, Captain Cid?" Cloud asked with a serious expression.

"I did, but please drop the respectful crap," Cid said with a nod. "This here is Auron, an old comrade and friend of mine."

"Nice to meet you," Leon said as he extended his hand to Auron. The two shook hands but Auron's amused grin didn't go unnoticed.

"Something funny Auron?" Cid asked with an amused smirk.

"I've never had anyone introduce themselves to me with a handshake," Auron said with a light chuckle. Cid chuckled lightly before facing his two underlings.

"The reason I called for you two is because you are my best and most loyal officers," Cid said with a serious expression. "I need you two for a mission."

"What will the mission be?" Cloud asked.

"I have reason to believe that some of the men in my command are working undercover for a man named Xehanort," Cid explained with a frown. "I need you two to get whoever you can trust and bring them to the stadium. Once done with that, you two will look for the rats and deal with them as you see fit. Understood?"

"Yes sir," Leon and Cloud said with firm nods.

"Then get moving," Cid said. With that the two officers left the stadium.

**VvV**

The triumphant Isa walked into the competitor lounge with a smirk on his face. His fight had been a joke, in his opinion, his opponent clearly didn't know how to handle a weapon. The fight had ended before it started so it was no surprise when Isa knocked out his opponent in less than a minute. Of course that Isa's skills had to be given some credit but his adversary could have been taken care of by anybody with a small understanding on how to fight.

"The next match will be between James and Riku," an official with short black hair wearing a pair of glasses said. Like the competitors, the officials deserved a break so it was decided that every official would take care of every four matches before switching out with another official.

"Wish me luck my new friends," James said to Sora and the group.

"Be careful with him," Sora said with his eyes fixed on Riku. "Something's different about him."

"You've met him before?" James asked.

"Yeah but now he's like a different person," Sora said with a frown. "Don't underestimate him and try to end the match quickly."

"Don't worry my spiky haired friend! I will win this match," James said with a grin before moving to stand in front of the official. Riku joined soon after and the three walked to the arena.

Sora frowned at Riku's retreating figure. Something inside of him told him that Riku was different than before. What was different he couldn't pinpoint but something was obviously wrong. He only hoped that James would be good enough to handle Riku. James seemed like a good person and Sora didn't want him to get hurt fighting Riku.

"And here I thought I would enter a perfectly normal competition. Now I have to worry about what's wrong with Riku before its too late," Sora muttered to himself with a frown.

**VvV**

"Ladies and gentleman!" the official exclaimed in excitement. Apparently the man was a lot more enthusiastic than the previous official. "I bring you the fifth match of the Keyblade Competition!" The official struck a pose and the crowd cheered loudly.

"We have an old favorite that placed third on our last competition, the graceful James," the official exclaimed. The cheers increased due to the recognition of the competitor. "James will be fighting a teen wonder from a powerful family. The silver haired wonder, Riku!" The cheers continued and the two competitors walked into the arena. James had an exited grin on his face while Riku had a stoic expression on his.

"Now without further ado, begin!" the official exclaimed.

The two competitors continued to face each other but neither of them made a move. They were studying each other and waiting for a sign to attack. Riku focused his gaze on James' hands and feet, looking for the slightest movement that would signal for him to attack. Riku's eyes narrowed when he saw James' right index finger twitch and without a warning summoned a keyblade that had a dark red blade with a wing on the side of the tip with a dark and light handle.

James' eyes widened when he saw Riku run at him at a fast speed. James outstretched his hand to summon his keyblade but before he could, he was hit by a dark fireball. He was thrown back a couple of feet and feel on his back. He rolled with the momentum and managed to get back up only to receive another dark fireball to the chest. James clutched his chest in pain and with the other summoned his keyblade. His keyblade had a white handle in the shape of angel wings and a pointy silver blade.

Riku saw James summon his weapon and stopped running. He eyed James, looking for an opening, before running at him again. James saw Riku coming and swung his keyblade horizontally. Riku knew this was coming and ducked under the swing. He then passed by James and in one sweep movement, swung down his keyblade and kicked him away making James land on his back.

James tried to stand but gasped when he noticed that he couldn't move his right arm. He looked at his arm and saw that Riku had cut the nerves on his arm, making it useless. James stood up and picked up his keyblade with his left hand.

"It seems you are stronger than I imagined," James said while wincing at the pain on his right arm. "I know when I am defeated so I surren-" James was cut off by another dark fireball hitting his chest. Before he knew what happened he was punched on the jaw.

Riku smirked when he saw James' confused expression and struck his left arm with his keyblade. James screamed in agony and found that his left arm had been rendered useless also.

James stood in the arena with blood running down both of his arms. He couldn't even speak due to the pain on his whole upper body. He couldn't help but let out a whimper when he saw Riku approach him with an unreadable expression. Riku simply raised his right palm and fired a dark fireball. The fireball made contact with James' stomach and he fell on the floor.

"You're a fool for thinking, even for one second, that you had a chance," Riku said with a snarl as he moved to stand next to James. "Not even worth my time." With that Riku kicked James on the face, knocking him unconscious, before walking back into the competitors lounge.

"Winner is Riku," the official said with a look of disbelief on his face. A pair of medics rushed into the arena and took James away in a stretcher. "O-our next match will start soon."

**VvV**

Riku entered the competitor lounge with a smirk. He noticed all of the glares he was receiving and couldn't help but feel amused. He considered himself superior to all of the people in the lounge. The only reason he had entered was to fight a certain spiky haired teen. Without a word Riku sat on a couch on the corner of the lounge and watched the other fools watch him in anger and slight fear.

"That bastard," Sora said through gritted teeth.

"Calm down Sora," Aqua said with a frown. "He'll get what he deserves."

"She's right Sora, getting angry won't get you anywhere," Roxas said with a frown.

"B-but," Sora argued as he turned to walk towards Riku but stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Take it easy Sora," Terra muttered in a calm voice. "That guy will get what's coming to him sooner or later."

"Fine," Sora said with an angry look on his face. He sat on a chair and clenched his fists. He felt helpless as he watched James getting hurt. Riku hadn't even let him summon his keyblade before attacking. Something was definitely different about Riku and he would get to the bottom of it.

**VvV**

"That was horrible," Namine said with a frown. She along with the others had seen what Riku did to James. It was lucky that Olette had taken Akira to buy some snacks before the match started.

"Yeah, something is really wrong with that Riku guy," Selphie said with a frown.

"I knew that he wasn't a nice person before but I never though he would be so brutal," Kairi said with a serious look.

"You knew him?" Namine asked.

"Yeah," Kairi said with a nod. "He had some grudge against Sora when we first met and the two fought. Sora won but the next time they met Riku was winning until Sora's heartless took over. We haven't seen him again until now."

"Ladies and gentleman we will now start our sixth match!" came the voice of the official. Everyone turned their attention to the arena. "We have the son of a wealthy businessmen, Luis." A teen with long brown hair entered the arena. He wore black pants, a white dress shirt and a brown kind of cape.

"We also have the lovely, Aqua!" the official exclaimed. Aqua entered the stadium with a scowl. She hated getting different treatment just because she was a girl.

Aqua stood in front of Luis and summoned her keyblade. Luis saw this and summoned his own. His keyblade had a brown handle and a light brown blade that had a normal shape but the blade appeared to be made of sand.

"Begin the match!" the official exclaimed.

Not wasting any time, Luis swung his keyblade in Aqua's direction. Aqua knew that each keyblade had a different ability so she decided to play it safe and jump away from where she was. Her eyes widened when she saw sand shoot off Luis' keyblade and hit the spot where she had been before.

"As you can tell now. My keyblade has the powers of sand," Luis said in a French accent. "Why do you not give up?"

Aqua frowned and threw her keyblade at Luis before running towards him. Luis swung his keyblade and another wave of sand shot off. The sand hit Aqua's keyblade and stopped it on its tracks. Luis raised an eyebrow when he saw that Aqua was not in the same spot anymore. He raised a brow when he saw her running at him from his right. Luis shot another wave of sand at Aqua but saw her smirk.

Aqua did a cartwheel to the right in order to dodge that sand. She then called her keyblade to her right hand and ran at Luis. Aqua saw that Luis was open to an attack and threw her keyblade at him once again. This time no sand knocked it away and it made contact with Luis left ribs. The keyblade flew past Luis before turning on its tracks and returning to Aqua, making a wound on Luis' right ribs on its way back.

"That was a great move," Luis said as he winced in pain. "I feel that some of my ribs are broken and I cannot move much anymore. I surrender."

"Winner is Aqua!" the official exclaimed. The crowd cheered at the great match and Aqua left the arena in a sea of applause.

**VvV**

"Way to go Aqua," Hayner said with a grin. Aqua had joined the group soon after leaving the arena and they were all sitting on the less crowded competitor lounge.

"You did good Aqua," Roxas said with a grin.

"I can't believe you saw through his defense so quickly," Sora added with a smile.

"What do you mean?" Terra asked in confusion.

"Well when Aqua's opponent would shoot off sand he would need to wait a total of ten seconds before doing it again," Sora said with a smile.

"Are you serious?" Hayner asked with wide eyes.

"I am," Sora said with a chuckle. "I was taught that in order to win a fight you need to pay attention to your opponent in order to look for openings."

"Nice to see you learned something important," Terra said with a smirk. "I want to put your training to the test."

"I want to see what you've learned too," Sora said with a grin.

"I need Tidus and Haru to follow me to the arena," the official announced.

"All right! Finally time for my fight," Tidus said with a smile.

"Don't get too cocky kid," Haru said. Haru had short curly blond hair and green eyes. He wore a black trench coat along with black pants and a black dress shirt. "I'll be finished with you before the official has the chance to say begin."

"Follow me gentleman," the official said with a nervous laugh. The two teens followed him to the gate.

"You ever notice how every time we talk, we get interrupted by the official?" Sora asked with a chuckle.

"Now that you mention it. I think your right," Hayner said with a thoughtful expression.

"Well whatever," Roxas said with his gaze on the tv. "The match's about to begin."

**VvV**

Tidus grinned at the snarling Haru. He had asked Haru why he liked to wear black so much and Haru ended up saying a whole monologue of why his life sucked even though he lived with a rich and loving family. Tidus half-listened to his story and gave Haru a blank look. It seemed that Haru noticed that Tidus wasn't really listening to him and glared at the teen.

"You know that the official said begin, right?" Tidus asked with a grin.

"Of course I know!" Haru said in anger. He then summoned a keyblade on his right hand. The keyblade had a blue handle in the shape of waves and a blue blade with a whirlpool shaped tip.

"Now you're talking," Tidus said as he too summoned a keyblade but on his left hand. The keyblade had a red handle in the shape of fire. Instead of a blade the keyblade had a red staff.

"What the hell is that? That's not a keyblade!" Haru exclaimed in confusion.

"Of course it's a keyblade. I put a staff orb on it and so it ended up looking like this," Tidus said with a grin.

"Well I don't care anymore, I'll finish this," Haru snarled. Haru dashed at Tidus and shot a jet of water out of his keyblade. Tidus rolled out of the way and used the momentum to stand back up and jump towards Haru. Tidus then trusted his keyblade forward and the staff made contact with Haru's left shoulder. The attack seemed harmless but it had really stopped all of the arm's nerves from working momentarily. Tidus proceeded to swing his keyblade horizontally and knock Haru back a couple of feet.

"What did you do to me?" Haru asked in anger.

"I stopped your arm from sending messages to your brain," Tidus said with a grin. "Don't worry it's not permanent but it lasts for about a day."

"I don't need to use my two hands to beat you!" Haru exclaimed in anger. "I'll beat you here and now!" With that Haru dashed at Tidus while swinging his keyblade and shooting random jets of water. Tidus didn't need to dodge since anger was clouding Haru's judgment.

"Looks like I win," Tidus muttered with a frown at Haru's lack of skill. He raised his left arm and pointed the tip of his keyblade at Haru's approaching figure. "Wind," he muttered. With that the keyblade shot off his hand and made contact with the middle of Haru's chest. Haru fell unconscious on the ground before anybody knew what happened.

"Winner is Tidus!" the official exclaimed. The crowd cheered at Tidus' skills before said teen left the arena.

"Don't move from your seat folks, our next match is coming right up!" the official yelled in excitement.

**VvV**

Tidus entered the competitor lounge with a grin on his face. It amused him to see everyone give him looks of shock. They had probably not expected him to be good at fighting. He didn't consider himself good but decent. He always took his opponents seriously which is why he probably won so easily.

"Did you think that that guy was going to win?" Hayner asked with a look of disbelief.

"Looks can be deceiving Hayner," Aqua said with a serious look.

"She's right," Xion said with her eyes on her book.

"Deception can be a strong weapon," Terra said with a nod of his head.

"And if you noticed, that Tidus guy took the fight seriously even though his opponent was a pampered rich boy," Sora said with a serious look. "No wonder it took him no trouble to beat that guy."

"Of course it didn't give him trouble," said a teenage girl that approached them. She had short black hair, light skin and brown eyes. She wore light brown shorts, high grey boots and a black vest with many pockets. "He trained with the great ninja Yuffie after all."

"Who's that?" Roxas asked.

"That's me of course," Yuffie said with a smile.

"Well nice to meet you," Sora said with a nervous laugh. "I'm Sora, and those are Roxas, Aqua, Terra, Xion and Hayner."

"Nice to meet you all," Yuffie said with a wave of her hand.

"Likewise," Xion muttered.

"Hey! We look alike! We could be twins," Yuffie said as she ruffled Xion's hair.

"Will Yuffie and Mak follow me please," came the voice of the official.

"Well I got to go," Yuffie said with a grin. "I'm going to go kick some butt and then I'll be back to talk." With that the ninja left, leaving a very confused group behind.

**VvV**

The stadium roared with cheers. The matches so far had not disappointed and they appeared to get more exiting as time passed. Riku's fight had been gruesome but not enough to break the spirits of the viewers. It had been an hour since the competition begun and people were glad that every minute had been entertaining.

"Ladies and gentleman," the official said through the microphone. "I bring you our eight match. We have the mysterious Mak against…" the official stopped for a moment and took out a small paper Yuffie had given him before the match started. "Against the great ninja Yuffie!"

A calm Mak and a happy Yuffie entered the arena and walked to their spots. Yuffie walked to the right side of the arena while Mak walked to the left. They faced each other and prepared to attack on the officials call.

"Begin!"

**VvV**

"How goes your plan master?" asked a hooded figure.

"It is going well. That fool Cid took the bait and it will make my job a lot easier," Xehanort said with an evil smile.

Xehanort was sitting on a large chair that stood in the end of a large black stoned room. The place looked a little run down but it served its purpose to Xehanort.

"I take it that we will be put into action soon?" the figure asked.

"Yes you will," Xehanort said with a nod. "Now I want you to go and contact our spy. Ask him how much our threat has grown. If he's grown too much then kill him but if he hasn't then let him run around a while longer. I find that kid to be amusing and he's taking down some minor threats for me."

"Very well master Xehanort," with that the figure disappeared in a dark portal, leaving a smirking Xehanort alone in the room.

"Soon I will strike," Xehanort said with anger on his voice. "I will soon have my revenge on Radiant Garden and most of all I'll kill their precious little boy, Sora."

**Ch. 27 End**

**KH: Slave of Love Short**

"**Welcome to Heartless Corner with your host…ME!" **Heartless Sora exclaimed with a twisted grin. "**Accompanying me is that idiot happy boy, I know what your thinking and its not Sora, we have the fool Tidus." **Tidus appeared out of nowhere tied to a chair next to Heartless Sora.

"W-what am I doing here?" Tidus asked in fear.

"**Do not worry fool," **Heartless Sora said with a smirk. "**We are here to discuss that weapon of yours. You are the only one, besides Sora, with a keyblade orb."**

"Yeah I have one," Tidus said with a nod.

"**We're now going to discuss its powers. It turns into a stick and is used to hit people, doesn't get more useless than that," **Heartless Sora said with a fake yawn.

"It doesn't only do that, it can also be used to-"

"**No spoilers!" **Heartless Sora said as he pulled a lever and Tidus fell down a dark hole. "**That will be all for today and remember that whenever you sleep I can see you from the dark!"**

**A/N: This will be all for today's update guys. I hope you liked this chapter and have a good Halloween. Next chapter will end the first round and will have a little more focus on Leon and Cloud rather than the competition. I need to ask you guys a question though: Do you want me to write the fights between the random characters or do you want me to skip them so I can get to Sora's fight faster?**


	28. Troops Gather in Radiant Garden

**Hey guys sorry for the long wait but here I am. The reason I haven't updated is because I've been really busy with college and work but I will have tons of time to write from now on so expect fast updates. I really appreciate all of the reviews, they really make my day. On another subject, I'm halfway down with the storyline of the sequel to this story but don't worry it doesn't mean that the story will end soon. Again thanks for the reviews and enjoy the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts**

**Kingdom Hearts: Slave of Love**

_**Keyblade Arc**_

**Ch. 28 Troops Gather in Radiant Garden**

Leon and Cloud hurried down the hallways of their base. Cid's forces were separated into four large bases, this excluding his elites of course. The bases were located near each gate that led in and out of Radiant Garden. There was a north gate, a south gate, an east gate and a west gate. This was done in order to have some manpower incase of an infiltration into Radiant Garden; it had never happened before but one couldn't always be too careful much less if it affected a whole town.

Cid had Leon and Cloud on the South Gate most of the time since their apartments were nearby. This had allowed the two officers to meet and interact with a large potion of Radiant Garden's forces. Since the two had been on Cid's forces for a few years they knew who they could trust due to Leon's extraordinary judge of character. It was not a real surprise for someone as calm and collected as Leon to be good at judging other people but he was always a hundred percent accurate.

"Who are we getting first?" Cloud asked as he and Leon entered Cid's large office.

"Not sure but for now we'll have to sneak around undetected, I don't want to arouse suspicion," Leon said. Cloud nodded in agreement as the two walked to a large picture of Radiant Garden. It was a magnificent piece that blocked a large part of the wall and the detail on the painting was something out of this world. Hundreds of people had been drawn to perfection and the buildings were exactly as they were today, minus the re-modeled and new ones.

"Open," Leon said as he held out a card and pushed it into a spot on the Radiant Castle that stood proudly on the painting.

The picture flashed in a bright light before slowly turning tangible and finally disappearing, revealing a hidden hallway. Cloud stood in awe at the events, no matter how many times he saw it the secret hallway would always amaze him.

The duo walked into the hallway in silence. The hallway's floor was made out of the same blue stone used in most Radiant Garden buildings but the walls were something different. The hallway's walls had a spell that made it so whoever was inside could see anything happen on the outside, a one-way mirror of sorts. This hallway could see and hear everything that happened in the base and it covered the whole building.

The secret hallways were great for spying and evacuating the building if need be but it also had its ups and downs. For one the hallways were too narrow and made it uncomfortable to walk. The hallways were also terribly hot and moist that it would get hard to breathe if you stayed too long. There was also that one time when they found out why Freddy and Frank were sweaty on Tuesdays. All in all the hallways was a good way to spy on people but it was a pain to go through the narrow hallway.

"Hear that?" Leon asked Cloud in a whisper. The two had stopped on a room filled with many officers who appeared to be planning something. Cloud nodded and Leon motioned him to stay put.

"Did master Xehanort give orders yet?" a bald man with a muscular build asked.

"Quiet you idiot! We can't talk about this here," said a skinny man with short dirty blond hair.

"Who cares? Cid went to the stadium and most of the officers are gone for the day," answered the bald man.

"Anyway, we can never be too careful," the skinny man argued. The other man shook his head and left the room, leaving the skinny man alone before he decided to leave the room also.

"Did you get their names down?" Cloud asked Leon who simply nodded and held out a small notebook. Leon motioned for the two to keep going and the two continued on their way. "How many traitors do you think there are?"

"I'm not sure," Leon said after a brief pause. "I don't think that there are too many in this base since it's the one Cid watches the most."

Cloud thought over Leon's words as the two continued to walk down the small corridor. There was a lot of truth in what Leon had said but one could never be too careful.

**VvV**

Yuffie panted as she struggled to stand on her two feet. She was facing her opponent who wasn't doing much better. Mak had proven to be skilled and knew what he was doing, something to be expected of the person who came in second place on the last competition. His keyblade had a Keyblade Morph Orb that transformed the blade into a shield at will, making Yuffie's attacks useless since she relied on her many ninja stars to fight.

"I have to say that you're really unique," Mak said with a grin. "Not many people use ninja tools nowadays, I have to say that I'm glad I got to have you as my opponent."

"Thanks," Yuffie said with a weary smile. "I'm sure you get this a lot but I just have to say it, I really hate your shield."

Mak smiled in response while Yuffie tried to think of a plan. No matter what she did, she wasn't able to get past that shield. Since she used small weapons to fight, the large shield easily blocked the weapons. A frontal attack would be asking for trouble and she was too tired to rely on her speed. The only think left on her arsenal was the thing that distinguished ninjas, deception.

Yuffie threw a couple of ninja stars at Mak hoping to catch him off guard. She watched as the ninja stars bounced off the shield and dashed at Mak at a fast speed. Mak saw Yuffie coming and returned his keyblade into its original state. He swung at the ninja but she simply rolled out of the way and swung her own blade once she was behind him. Mak quickly turned around while morphing his keyblade into a shield and blocked the blow.

Yuffie jumped away from the lock of blade and shield. Again, she threw a couple of ninja stars and dashed at Mak who sighed before blocking the ninja stars and swinging his blade at Yuffie. The ninja saw the swing and rolled to the side before jumping away in order to put some distance.

"This is getting pointless," Mak said with a sigh. "No matter what you do, you can't hit me."

'_I have to time this right,' _Yuffie thought with a frown as a trickle of sweat ran down her face. '_This is my only chance to win.'_

Yuffie threw a couple of ninja stars and dashed at Mak. She saw him block with his shield and transform the shield into its normal state. It was at that exact moment that Yuffie saw the morph ball exit the keyblade and begin to return into one of the pockets on Mak's jacket.

Yuffie threw a ninja star with all her strength and precision. The star sailed through the air before hitting the morph ball and slicing it in half. Yuffie blocked Mak's swing with her own blade.

"Do you really wish to keep going?" Mak said, clearly unaware that his morph ball had been destroyed.

"I'm not one to listen to what a man tells me to do," Yuffie said with a grin before headbutting Mak on the nose and kicking him away.

Mak cried in pain and fell on the ground with a bloody nose. He gritted his teeth at the pain on his nose and tried to touch it, only to wince in pain. The nose was bent to the right and blood flowed freely from it.

"Damn you!" Mak yelled in anger. "I tried to be the nice guy here but I won't play around anymore!"

Yuffie threw a couple of ninja stars at Mak, and smirked when she saw try to morph his keyblade into a shield. Mak's eyes widened when he saw that the keyblade didn't transform. He tried to jump away from the attack but was too late and the ninja stars dug into his right shoulder.

"I told you I hated your shield," Yuffie said with a smile.

"Damn," Mak said with a sigh. "I concede to you ninja."

"Mak has surrendered!" the official exclaimed into the microphone. "The winner of this match is Yuffie!"

Yuffie smiled at the cheering and waved at the crowd. With a laugh Yuffie made her way into the competitor lounge.

**VvV**

A small crowd of officers kneeled on the ground with handcuffs on their wrists. They had been taking orders from Xehanort and were now paying for it. Leon and Cloud had made sure to make their arrests as painful as possible. Nobody on Cid's forces were a match for Leon and Cloud, there were those who came close but nobody had bested the two in combat yet. They had lost individually of course but when they fought side by side they were only bested by the legendary duo of Cid and Auron. It had been said that Cid and Auron had had another pair of students that had surpassed them but those were only rumors.

Cloud stood in front of the crowd of traitors with a satisfied look on his face. The crowd glared at him but he just chuckled at them, quite pathetic to try and intimidate someone while being handcuffed. They had found a total of twenty-one traitors without much trouble and were now gathering their most trusted comrades to go watch over the stadium.

Meanwhile, Leon was preparing to leave the base to report back to Cid. He was taking eight of Cid's elite with him and had decided against bringing Cloud along, this because he needed somewhat of complete trust to watch over the traitors. Cid hadn't told him to do this but he had once told him to do as he saw fit on missions.

"You're moving out?" Cloud asked with a serious expression.

"Yes, we can't waste any more time here," Leon responded with a nod.

"Be careful out there," Cloud said with a smirk. "It would suck to look for a replacement for you." Leon chuckled at the joke and ran towards the stadium at a fast pace, followed by the other officers.

**VvV**

Cid and Auron leaned on one of the outer walls of the stadium. They had a clear view of most of the streets and part of the forests from where they were. The two were waiting for the forces to arrive since it had been about an hour since Leon and Cloud left. Cid wanted to waste no time and decided that it was best to wait outside of the stadium rather than some random hallway inside.

"Who do you think will win the tournament?" Cid asked with his gaze on the faraway forest.

"Trying to lighten the mood?" Auron asked with a smirk. Cid responded with an amused smirk and a shrug. "I think you and I know who will win."

"Really? Who would that be?" Cid asked with a small chuckle.

"Sora of course," Auron responded. "I trained him after all."

"Always the modest one, aren't you Auron? "Cid asked with an amused smile. "How do you know that your training didn't screw him up?"

"I don't know about that," Auron said. "What I do know is that I trained him even harder than his parents. He's nowhere near their level of course but he's getting there."

"How can you compare their training to his?" Cid asked with an amused smirk. "You trained the kid for a few weeks while you trained his parents for years at your prime."

"What make you think I'm not as strong as I use to?" Auron asked with a raised brow.

"Well if your gray hairs aren't proof enough then I don't know what is," Cid said with a sigh. Auron chuckled at the insult of his age but didn't say anything. The two had known each other for years and would always throw playful insults at each other from time to time.

After a few quiet minutes the two saw Leon and a few officers running out of the forests. Cid noticed that Cloud wasn't there but didn't why. He knew better than to distrust Leon's decisions.

"Captain Cid," Leon said while close enough.

"Sir!" the squad of officers exclaimed as they came to a halt behind Leon.

"At ease," Cid said with a nod. "As you probably know we have reason to believe that there will be an attack on the stadium. I want all of you to watch over the whole area and report to me if you see anything suspicious. If an attack is attempted then you are under orders to kill or imprison as you see fit."

"If by any means you can't find me then you are to tell Auron or Leon of what you found. You will work under Leon and Leon will work under myself and Auron. "Any questions?" Cid said with a serious look.

"No sir!" the officers exclaimed.

"Then scatter!" Cid commanded. With that the officers ran at different directions. "We're going to watch things from the inside lets go," Cid said to Auron. The two walked back into the stadium on high alert.

**VvV**

The inside of the lounge was much less crowded now. Four matches had passed since Yuffie's and the final round of matches was about to begin. The lounge was filled with loud conversations on the previous matches. The big talk seemed to be Xion's match.

Xion had been paired up against a teen by the name of Daichi. The fight had lasted a couple of seconds since Xion launched a large gust of wind that knocked the teen into a wall and knocked him unconscious. Everyone had been left outstanded by the girl's skill and couldn't help but sweat drop when the girl calmly walked back into the room with a book on hand.

With the final round of matches coming Roxas was eager to begin. His match was the first of the final rounds and Sora wanted to see what his friend could do. Sora had never seen Roxas fight since he was more of a strategist. Whenever there was trouble back in Hollow Bastion with a crowd or the occasional thug, Roxas would be the one to come up with ways to stop them while Sora did the fighting himself. The two had been an unstoppable force in Hollow Bastion and hadn't been beaten yet. "The thing with Leon doesn't count," Roxas would argue so they were unbeatable in Roxas' eyes.

"Will Roxas and Makoto please follow me," the official said to the large crowd.

"Finally," Roxas said with a smile. He walked over to the official with an exited grin, eager to get his fight started.

"Let's end this," said a teen with short spiky red hair with a large bang covering his left eye.

**VvV**

"Did we miss anything?" Namine asked Olette with a smile.

"Not at all, there were a few matches but none of them had anyone we know," Olette explained.

Namine, Kairi and Selphie had gone off to get a bite to eat while Olette and Akira stayed behind. They had gotten hot dogs and large drinks to enjoy the rest of the matches.

Namine and Kairi were relieved to hear that they hadn't missed anything. Although Namine wouldn't say it out loud she had been hoping to see Roxas during his match. Roxas had grown on Namine on the time they spent living under the same roof. Kairi, on the other hand was relieved to see that Sora hadn't gone up yet. Kairi wanted to root for Sora while he fought and didn't really care what people thought of her anymore. She was in love and that's all that mattered to her.

"Ladies and gentleman!" the official exclaimed on the microphone. "I bring you the first match of our final round." The crowd cheered loudly for the conclusion of the day and next great matches.

Roxas and his opponent walked into the arena and stood on opposite sides of each other. The official stood in the middle of both teens with his trusty microphone on hand.

"Here on my right I have Makoto!" the official said with his hand extended towards the teen. "And on my left I have the rookie Roxas!" The crowd once again cheered but this time it was much more silent.

'_Great I'm a rookie,' _Roxas thought with a sweat drop.

"Begin the match!" the official exclaimed.

Roxas quickly summoned his keyblades and got into a battle stance while Makoto did the same. Makoto's keyblade had a hilt shaped like a dragon's head and a deep red bled with the tip shaped like a pair of red claws.

'_I have to test him first,' _Roxas thought while looking at Makoto's stance. So far he had found many holes on his defense and could tell that his style of fighting was built for speed instead of power. Roxas noticed that Makoto was eyeing him as well and didn't know what to think of the teen. Roxas wasn't one to underestimate a foe so he decided to assume the worst and believe that Makoto had him all figured out.

Roxas dropped into a lazy stance and prepared to attack. The best way to understand an opponent was to test him out. Makoto seemed to notice that Roxas was preparing to attack and got a firm look on his eyes.

Roxas dashed at Makoto with his keyblades hanging loosely on his arms. Makoto dashed at Roxas as well and the two clashed keyblades and got locked on a deadlock. The two teens grinned at each other before both jumped away. Roxas dashed at Makoto one more time taking the other teen by surprise. This time Makoto stood his ground and blocked both keyblades with his own.

'_Despite his looks this guy actually has a lot of muscle,' _Roxas thought with a frown before jumping away from the teen. '_No worries I already have him figured out.'_

Roxas dashed at Makoto one more time but this time he held his keyblades crossed behind his back. Makoto looked at him oddly before running at Roxas at a fast speed. Roxas inwardly smirked and threw one of his keyblades at Makoto.

Makoto was taken back by Roxas' move and blocked the launched keyblade with his own. The keyblade had been thrown with so much force that Makoto's own blade was knocked out of his hand. Makoto stood wide-eyed as Roxas approached him with his remaining keyblade held high. He closed his eyes and waited for the pain to come.

No pain came and Makoto opened his eyes only to be greeted with the tip of Roxas' keyblade. Roxas had a satisfied smirk on his face and Makoto couldn't help but frown.

"Makoto is incapable of fighting, the winner is Roxas!" the official exclaimed. The crowd roared in cheers for the winner of the match.

"Losing at my first match, how pathetic," Makoto mumbled with his gaze to the ground. His eyes widened in surprise when a hand appeared in front of him. He glanced upwards and saw a smiling Roxas with his hand outstretched.

"No hard feelings," Roxas said. Makoto stared at the hand for a few seconds before chuckling and taking the hand.

"You really had me there," Makoto said with a grin. "You started with a stance and ended the fight with a different one."

"That was only to test you," Roxas said with a smile. "I like to study my opponents before attacking."

"Well good luck on the rest of your matches," Makoto said. "You better not lose, I don't want you to make me look bad."

"Don't worry I won't lose," Roxas answered with a grin.

**VvV**

"The preparations have been completed," said a man with shoulder length white hair. He had tanned skin and striking yellow eyes. This man was vowing in front of Xehanort who had a smirk on his face.

They were in the same room that Xehanort used to meet his contacts. It was a kind of throne room with dark walls that lacked windows, making the place completely dark with the only light coming from a few lit torches around the room.

"Very good, I trust that Cid has begun to move?" Xehanort asked.

"That is correct," said the man.

"I take it you want to ask me something," Xehanort said when he noticed that the man hadn't moved.

"You are right," the man said. "It has to do with our attack on the stadium."

"What questions do you have?" Xehanort asked with a raised brow.

"I want to know why you want to attack it," the man began. "I know that it has to do with your old comrades and that kid but why go for an attack of such magnitude?"

"A wise question indeed, Xeha," Xehanort said with an amused smile. "Revenge is one of the reasons of this attack but not the biggest one. This attack is for the mere purpose to show the world that Radiant Garden is not indestructible. I want to show how weak the town can get with a simple blow."

"I see but don't you have bigger things to worry about?" Xeha asked with a frown. "Why not make that kid your vessel? He was your first choice wasn't he?"

"Indeed he was," Xehanort said with a dark smile. "Sora was to become my vessel when he came of age."

"Why not just take him then?" Xeha asked in confusion.

"Have I ever told you what happened ten years ago?" Xehanort asked with a loud sigh. Seeing that Xeha didn't answer Xehanort decided to continue. "As you know my body is slowly killing itself. All of the darkness I use has taken its toll on my heart since mine was never strong enough to handle all that power. It was seventeen years ago that I concluded that in order to become more powerful without the darkness killing me, I needed to find a vessel with a strong heart."

"When Sora was born I took an interest on the kid because of who his parents were. When I met the kid face to face I felt how powerful his heart was. It was in that day that I decided that Sora was to be my vessel. I decided to let the kid's body develop to a point where he wouldn't die from the strain of changing hosts. When the kid turned six I made my move but when I tried to take over his body I was severely wounded. In rage I tried to kill the kid by throwing him in a river but as you can see now he still lives."

"Why couldn't you take him over?" Xeha asked. "Did the kid's body reject you?"

"No it wasn't any of that," Xehanort said with an angry expression. "Apparently those damned fools did something to the kid that made me unable to take him over. I don't know what it was but it was the reason why I was severely wounded that night."

"I see," Xeha said with a nod. "What do you plan to do with the kid now?"

"I plan to let him run around a bit longer and kill him before he becomes a threat. At his current level he's no match for me but his growth could become a problem," Xehanort said. "For now we'll go according to our plans and if the kid gets too troublesome then we'll simply kill him."

**VvV**

Sora grinned in excitement. His match was up next and he couldn't wait to get started. He had waited for hours and now his match was about to begin. It wasn't only the match that got him exited but he what came after the final match. He and Kairi had met on one of the hallways and they had agreed to go on their first official date when the matches were over.

Of course Sora was nervous. It wasn't his first date but Kairi could be an intimidating person at times. He felt like he really needed to impress her though she had said to have a simple date. At first he felt relaxed that Kairi wanted something simple but it wasn't until he decided to ask Roxas that everything went downhill.

"Mistake number one Sora: When a girl says no it means yes," Roxas had said with a smile. This had turned Sora's thoughts upside down and he didn't know what Kairi really wanted. Kairi was always a straight to the point kind of person but Roxas was a self-declared wiz when it came to girls. Why couldn't girls be less complicated? Or maybe man were making things complicated themselves. Sora was snapped out of his thoughts by the official's voice.

"Will Sora and Genkei please follow me to the arena," the official stated in a loud voice.

"Good luck out there man," Sora heard Hayner said but he wasn't too sure. He was still too engrossed on his thoughts and he mindlessly followed the official out the door.

He really didn't want to screw up his chances with Kairi. She was the first girl whom he had liked to such extent, he could even call it love but there was no way he would say it before her. He had heard from Roxas that real man didn't say 'I love you' to a girl first. Sora thought the idea to be a little ridiculous be then again Roxas was a genius.

Sora entered the arena and snapped out of his trance. This wasn't the time to think, this was the time to kick some ass. For the first time he looked at his opponent and noticed that it was a girl. She wore loose fitting grey pants and a black sweatshirt with a red shirt underneath.

"I bring you the fifteenth match of the competition. Sora, a new competitor facing off against our former fourth place winner Genkei," the official exclaimed in the microphone. "Now without further ado, begin!"

Genkei took the initiative and dashed at Sora. Sora summoned his keyblade and watched in confusion as Genkei ran towards him without a keyblade in hand. He was about to ask if she was going to summon it but had to roll out of the way when she swung her arm down towards him and summoned her keyblade at the same time. It was a sneaky tactic but it was still a smart one.

"That was pretty good," Sora said with a grin.

"I don't need your praise," Genkei said before dashing at Sora again. This time Sora was prepared and waited for the girl's attack. He blocked it with ease before knocking her off her feet and pointing the tip of his keyblade at her face.

"I win," Sora said with a grin.

"You wish," Genkei said as she kicked Sora off his feet and launching a strong wind spell that knocked him against a wall.

'_Damn, I underestimated her,'_ Sora thought with a frown. He got up and took a battle stance. He knew better than to underestimate someone and was now paying for it. _'Auron is going to chew me out for this.'_

Sora took a deep breath and dashed at Genkei at an incredible speed. The girl only saw a blur but managed to block the strike. She looked at him oddly when she saw that his cheeks were expanded and he appeared to wear a grin on his face. Taking her by surprise, Sora released a strong wind out of his mouth that knocked the girl against the wall.

"What the hell was that?" the girl asked as she gasped in pain.

"That was a wind spell," Sora explained. "If you have good enough control of a certain spell then you can perform it with other parts of your bodies rather than with just your hands."

"I see," Genkei said with a small grin. "Then I must commend you for your skill."

The two dashed at each other again and swung their blades at each other. Genkei gasped in pain when she felt the weight of Sora's keyblade hit hers. The keyblade fell off of Genkei's hands and she could do nothing but watch as Sora shot a wind spell out of his hand.

Genkei fell on the ground hard and gritted her teeth in pain. She felt exhaustion wash over her and knew that the match was over. Her opponent was in a completely different level, one that she couldn't match at the moment.

"I surrender," Genkei said as she slowly stood up.

"Genkei has surrendered! The winner is Sora!" the official yelled into the microphone.

Sora smiled at the cheers he was given and walked back to the competitor's lounge. The match had helped clear his mind and now he knew that he didn't need to impress Kairi. She already knew him and had accepted him for who he is and although Kairi could be hard to read at times, he knew that all she wanted was to spend time together.

**VvV**

"So the time is coming," said an officer with a smirk. He had a large build and had a bald head that was mostly covered in tattoos.

"Yes the time for peace will be over soon," said another officer. This one was short and hand short brown hair. His teeth were horribly misshapen and he had a crazy look on his face.

"We will strike soon," said the officer with the tattoos. The two officers grinned and behind them hundreds of officers sheered.

**Ch. 28 End**

**KH: Slave of Love Short**

Sora, Kairi, Roxas and Namine sat on a forest clearing surrounded by trees and bushes. They were taking a day off and were enjoying the day, that is until Sora spotted something moving on the bushes.

"What the hell is that?" Sora asked in alarm. He pointed at a moving shrub and the group saw a kind of furry object sticking out behind it.

"Is that a squirrel?" Roxas asked while eyeing the thing oddly.

"Squirrels aren't that tall," Sora argued.

"Maybe it's a flying squirrel," Namine suggested with a thoughtful expression.

"What if it's some animal's tail or something?" Kairi asked.

"It could be a horrible mutated animal that escaped from somewhere," Sora said with a nod of his head. Suddenly the object began to move and it rose to reveal that it was a head. "Mutant I knew it!"

"Stop it already!" the object exclaimed as it turned around and revealed Demyx's face.

"You really need a new haircut," Sora said with a laugh as the whole group began to laugh minus the angry Demyx.

**A/N: I hope you like this chapter. The next chapter will come a lot sooner than this one and will show Sora and Kairi's first date. As you can see this chapter revealed a lot of information on Xehanort's past but as you can tell it's not the whole story. More things will be revealed on the future but for now you guys need to review!**


	29. End of the First Day

**Hey guys. I wanted to show that I'm not dead, sorry for the long wait. The reason I haven't updated is because my computer suddenly died on me and I bought a laptop by December. Everything was ready to start writing again but I got hit with the worst case of writer's block. I even had to write another story to get my mind going again. I promise not to keep you long again and I'll try to give you steady updates. This chapter will start with a kind of summary of the important events that have taken place on the story so that you don't have to go back and read if you forgot some of the story, it will be a 'Heartless Corner' short so if you remember the plot then just skip this part and read ahead. **

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts**

* * *

**KH: Slave of Love Short**

The world was dark, nothing but an endless darkness surrounded a bright pedestal that brought light to the dark abyss. In the pedestal a white desk could be seen with a small mug of coffee resting on it. A small smoke came from the cup and dispersed after a few seconds. It was a truly peaceful place if one was to say.

"**Dammit!" **exclaimed Heartless Sora from behind the desk. He had a frown on his face, with his fangs sticking out of his lips, and sat on a cushioned chair with his feet on the desk. **"I freaking hate how quiet it's been! I've been going insane, **_**me, **_**more insane than I ever was, can you believe that?"**

"Who are you talking to?" Riku asked. He sat next to Heartless Sora with his arms crossed and a bored look on his face.

"**That's exactly what I'm talking about! I'm talking to the dark, that's how desperate I've been," **Heartless Sora snapped with a frown on his face.

Riku sighed and shook his head. "We have new orders. We are to give a summary of what's been going on in our world," he explained in a calm manner.

"**Fine," **the heartless spat with his arms crossed. **"I might as well do it since I have nothing else to do."**

"Let's get to it then," Riku stated with a nod.

"**I'll tell you all that's been going on, I can see all of Sora's thoughts so I'll be the most suitable to tell you of what's been happening. Also if you didn't know, or if a certain someone got to lazy to explain; slaves in Radiant Garden aren't permanent, it is a kind of legal punishment that lasts as long as the officers claim," **the heartless explained, **"Let's begin the summary."**

* * *

**Summary**

Sora is a teen with very few things. He doesn't have any memories of his parents save for the night where they tossed him aside. Since then he holds resentment for them and will get angry if they are mentioned. At the age of six, Sora arrived to Radiant Garden and met Aqua. The two became friends and later met Terra and Roxas, who he views as family now.

Because of the need for money to buy food, Sora was forced to steal every once in a while and developed the skill to pick any lock with ease. He could be mostly seen with Roxas and the two would get into all sorts of mishaps. One day the two decided on aiding Seifer and his gang, Rai and Fuu, to raid the people called 'Specials' from Radiant Garden. They entered Radiant Garden with ease but were forced to retreat when they were spotted by an officer at his home. Sora urged Roxas the leave, which he reluctantly did, leaving Sora alone. The officer, Leon, knocked Sora out with ease and decided to make him Kairi's slave since she was in need of one.

Kairi's school life was not a good one since many people would laugh at her lack of skills on magic. She was in danger of being spelled from her school since she was required to own a slave. Tifa would make her life hell and she had a few friends like Selphie and Namine.

Kairi was given Sora one morning and the two couldn't stand each other. Kairi would be cold to Sora while he would be rude to her any moment he could. On a typical school day, Sora found a girl being bothered by two men. He faced the men and managed to wound them until a man named Auron arrived and calmed the situation.

The next day a teen named Riku learned that a slave had beaten his own. Not one to be offended with such things, Riku set off to find the slave and make him pay. He found Sora walking towards the school and challenged him to a fight. The fight was one-sided at first since Riku used him magic to push Sora around. It wasn't until Kairi gave Sora a Keyblade that the fight turned and Sora managed to win.

After this Riku began to train while Sora lived his daily life with a growing darkness inside of him. A week passed and his relationship with Kairi grew friendlier. One day he dropped her off at school and was faced by Riku once more. The two agreed to fight once more and moved to the back of the school. Riku proved to have improved and made quick work of Sora and left him in a critical condition. As the silver-haired teen turned to leave a dark chuckle was suddenly heard. He turned around and saw Sora reeking of darkness with half of his face pitch-black. This new Sora made quick work of Riku and prepared to deal the final blow but was stopped by the newly arrived Kairi. She told him to stop and Sora managed to push away the darkness and go back to his normal self but fainted due to exhaustion.

Leon spoke to Cid about Sora and the latter explained that he might have an inner heartless, a being that would grow inside of a person by using their negative emotions. Leon went to see Sora and explained the situation, saying that he had a way to stop the heartless from taking over his body but in order to do so he would need to accompany him. Sora agrees and leaved with Leon to the officer base. There he met Cid and they began to help Sora gain control.

Meanwhile there was a plan going on in Hollow Bastion. Roxas had gotten together a group of friends with the sole purpose of getting Sora back. They planned on looking for him soon since Terra had informed them that Radiant Garden's defenses would be down soon. In Radiant Garden, Kairi prepared a sleepover with her friends since she would be alone. Selphie, Namine and her slave Selphie, Yuna and Xion went to the sleepover.

Back with Sora, his training was rough and his Heartless was unleashed. Leon and Cid pushed back the heartless while Sora was having an internal battle with himself. Time passed and Cid was ready to kill Sora but the latter suddenly became enveloped in a silver aura and broke free of the heartless' control. With no more training to do, Sora decided to go back home but on his way there he met with Roxas, Aqua, Terra, Hayner and Demyx. They told him that they would take him back to Hollow Bastion but Sora told him that he still had to take care of some things before going back.

The group went over to Kairi's and met with the group of girls. They introduced themselves and decided to stay at Namine's for the time being while Sora stayed with Kairi. It was uneventful for a few days until Kairi decided to go on a trip to her summer home. They met a five-year-old girl named Akira and due to some circumstances took her back to Radiant Garden so that she could have a home.

One day Sora and Kairi walked around Radiant Garden and found a poster with information on an upcoming Keyblade Competition. Sora decided to enter this even and looked for someone who could train him. As he and the two girls walked back to Kairi's, he spotted Auron making quick work of a few thugs. Sora praises Auron and asks for training to which he denies. Sora challenged him to a fight and the two engage in combat with Auron coming on top easily. Auron sees talent in Sora and agrees to train him but in order to do so he would need Sora to accompany him on a two week trip.

When the day of leaving arrived Kairi approached Sora and confessed her feeling to him. The two kissed before Sora left with Auron. While Sora was gone; Roxas, Aqua, Terra, Hayner, and Xion decided to enter the Keyblade Competition as well. Two weeks came and went and the competition had finally begun. Sora reunited with Kairi, with them being in an official relationship now, before he went to get ready to fight. The first round ended with Sora, Roxas, Xion, Aqua, Terra and Hayner winning their matches. Riku had been found to have entered the competition as well.

A man named Xehanort had a plan in motion and attended the competition as well but not as a contender. He had trained Riku on how to use darkness and planned on gaining a vessel for his body. He reveals to have first tried to take over Sora when the boy was six but had been unable to since his body rejected him. Xehanort gathered a group of officers and made them get ready to attack Radiant Garden.

* * *

"**And that's that," **Heartless Sora said with a sigh before turning to Riku, **"I like the part where I kicked your ass."**

"Let's get on with the next chapter," Riku said with a glare.

"**Fine you sore loser," **the heartless said, ignoring Riku's heated glare, **"The chapter begins now!" **

* * *

**Kingdom Hearts: Slave of Love**

_**Keyblade Arc**_

**Ch. 29 End of the First Day**

Sora walked through the crowded streets around the stadium with a smile on his face. It was around six in the afternoon and he was on his way to pick Kairi up for their date. Apparently Namine had booked a hotel that everyone would be using for the remainder of the competition, she had said that this was necessary since she didn't want to walk from her home to the stadium every day. He assumed that she was right but didn't understand why Kairi had kicked him out of the hotel and told him to pick her up later so that it was more like a proper date. Since he was a little nervous he assumed this to be the right thing to do. He had been racking his brain on the whole dating Kairi issue and knew that it would be a little awkward at first because of their past unstable relationship.

For now he would try and enjoy the date though he knew that he would be completely nervous. He didn't have to fight until tomorrow so it would be a nice break from the constant fighting since traveling with Auron required fighting. After the day's fights were over, the official had told them that the second round would happen the following day. Sora was glad that his friends had passed to the second round and couldn't wait to see what they could really do. None of the matches had allowed his friends to show their true potential, much like his own.

He dismissed those thoughts when he saw he was approaching the hotel. The building was located near the stadium and was made from the same blue rock the whole town was. Fountains and trees adorned the entrance, making the already impressive building stand out even more. However, what stood out for Sora the most was the beautiful redhead standing on the entrance. Kairi wore a white blouse under a pink dress that had a black hoodie. He had never seen her wear this dress and he couldn't help but let a blush creep into his cheeks.

"I assume that means I dressed well?" Kairi asked with a small smile that grew when she saw his blush deepen.

"Y-you look great," Sora said with a nervous smile. He looked at his own clothes in distaste before scratching the back of his head, "Sorry I couldn't wear anything else."

Kairi smiled, knowing that he was trying his hardest. "You look great Sora," she answered before taking Sora's hand in hers. She gave him a sweet smile before leading him away from the hotel, "Let's go see what the stalls have to offer."

"R-right," Sora agreed as he let Kairi lead the way.

* * *

"Anything?"

"No… I can't see anything."

"Come on people, we need eyes out there."

"It's not as easy as it looks like, these branches are stabbing me."

"Man… I knew that I shouldn't have come here. I'm not the right guy for this."

"Shut up you idiot!"

"I bet I know what happened. First they ran out of there and went into a secluded spot before he ripped her clothes off and-"

"Stop!" loud voiced echoed from a large bush that overlooked the many stalls around the stadium.

A small boy turned to the bush and pulled on his mom's hand. "Mommy, that bush just talked," he informed.

"I don't want to know who's in there," the mom muttered as she eyed the bush in disgust before walking away from it with her son in hand, "We're leaving."

"Ha, ha. You scared her," came a voice from the bush.

"Shut up you idiot, it was all your fault for being so loud," came a female voice.

"I'm out of here," said a cool voice as Terra came out of the bush. He was followed by Aqua, Roxas, Namine and Demyx.

"Aww why are you leaving?" Demyx asked with a pout, "Is it because of what happened last time we were spying on someone?"

"No," Terra disagreed with a thoughtful look, "But now that you reminded me, I'm leaving before things get bad."

"Nooo," Demyx said with tears cascading down his face, "Don't leave me here with Aqua."

"What did you say?" Aqua growled as she glared at Demyx.

Terra walked away from the group, knowing that it would be too dangerous to spy with them, he knew for a fact that he didn't want a repeat of last time.

"Enough," Roxas said with a frown. He crossed his arms and looked at the team he had assembled. "We still have a mission to do and I won't rest until it's complete," he declared. The group thought for a moment before nodding in agreement, knowing that he was right, "Now let's go get this over with."

"Roxas you're a natural leader!" Demyx praised with a bright smile on his face.

Roxas smirked and turned to Demyx. "And you, my friend, are weird," he turned back to the stalls in focus, "There they are let's hide."

"Right," the group agreed as they ran back to the bush.

They watched as Sora and Kairi walked around the stalls hand in hand. "Now that's love!" Demyx cheered with a happy smile.

"Did you hear something?" Sora asked as he looked around the area. Kairi shook her head and led him to the nearest stall, "Nothing at all?"

"Nothing," Kairi responded.

Back in the bush Demyx had a bright red mark on his cheek and tears rolling down his cheek. The rest of the group moved away from the furious Aqua, not wanting to be hurt. "That hurt," Demyx whined.

"If you talk again it'll get worse," Aqua threatened with a glare. Demyx simply nodded furiously making Aqua smirk before turning to the rest of the group noticing that they were moving away, "Is anything wrong?"

"N-nothing," Namine assured with a nervous smile on her face.

* * *

The rest of the date had been boring in Roxas' opinion. There wasn't anything exiting like a heartless coming out of nowhere, a homicidal ex-boyfriend or a jealous ex-girlfriend. Sora looked happy at the very least so he assumed that it hadn't been a total waste. He looked back at the group and saw that Namine had a dreamy look in her eyes, Demyx had tears rolling down his cheeks and Aqua had a proud smile on her face.

Confused, Roxas looked back to the couple and his eyes widened when he saw that they were in the midst of a kiss. He looked away, it was a little gross to see the person you considered a brother kissing someone. It might have been out of love but he was still grossed out and knew that he would never get used to it.

"That is true love!" Demyx cheered in excitement, "Way to go Sora!"

Sora broke the kiss and looked to the bush that had apparently been following them. "You idiot!" came a scream from the bush.

"I told you I heard something," Sora said with a smug look. Kairi crossed her arms and pouted, knowing that he had been right.

"Who do you think it is?" Kairi asked with a blush on her face, the idea of someone watching her date no the most pleasant.

"I don't know but I'm going to find out," Sora declared as he walked over to the bush and peeked inside. "What the…" he said when all he saw inside of the bush was a heavily beaten Demyx.

* * *

"So you guys followed us around all day?" Sora growled at the group in front of him. After seeing Demyx in the bush, he had decided to go back to the hotel with Kairi. There he saw Roxas and his friends talking about spying on their date. Now Roxas, Aqua, Namine and Demyx sat in front of him with looks of shame. "Well?"

"We're sorry," the group chorused in shame.

Sora was a little thrown off by the synchronization but dismissed it. "Leave for now," he ordered.

"Yes sir," the group chorused again, making Sora look at the group oddly.

"What the hell is wrong with them?" Sora asked himself as he watched the group leave. He laid down on his bed and smiled. His date with Kairi had gone great, they had played several games from the booths first, after that they went to eat in a small stall and finally they walked around the street and kissed. A good date on his opinion but he was a little mad that it had ended because of his spying friends. After they went back to the hotel, Kairi went to her room but not before kissing Sora goodnight.

He closed his eyes feeling the strain from the day's events. He would go to sleep now, he had a match tomorrow and knew that he would need his rest. He only hoped that nothing would go wrong.

**Ch. 29 End**

**I know that it was a kind of filler chapter but I really had to update today to show that I hadn't abandoned this story. Again, sorry for taking so long and I promise that the next chapter will come sooner and will be longer. Thank you for reading!**


	30. Second Matches Begin!

**Hey guys here's the new chapter. The reason why this chapter took some time to come out is because I have a bunch of new ideas for this story and I had to sort them out. The story is fully written but I still need to go over mistakes, add scenes, character depth, etc. This will take at least a week to revise by chapter but this freaking Writer's Block is not helping! Anyway, I'll begin to write the rounds of the chapters before the chapter begins, as for the rest of the ideas, well just wait and see. From now on I'll be able to update at least once a week and twice on rare occasions. If things go as planned then the story will end at chapter 50 and then I'll start the sequel. That is all for now, I hope you enjoy this chapter. **

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Heart**

* * *

**Keyblade Competition Rounds**

**Round One: Lee vs. Hayner**

**Round Two: Terra vs. Isa**

**Round Three: Riku vs. Aqua**

**Round Four: Tidus vs. Yuffie**

**Round Five: Xion vs. Kenji**

**Round Six: Jiro vs. Koji**

**Round Seven: Roxas vs. Masa**

**Round Eight: Sora vs. Naomi**

* * *

**Kingdom Hearts: Slave of Love**

_**Keyblade Arc**_

**Ch. 30 Second Matches Begin!**

Sora stirred from his peaceful sleep, wondering why there was always something that woke him up. This time it was the sound of running water combined with the annoying chirping coming from the birds outside his window. The hotel he was staying at was famous for its tall trees, same tress that those birds just seemed to love. He idly wondered if nature just loved to wake him up.

A little ticked off, Sora sat up and looked around the room. It was a medium-sized room with light brown walls, wooden furniture adorning the room, a wooden door that led to the room's restroom and finally his bed. Not a very luxurious room but he didn't mind, it had a comfortable air to it.

The sound of running water suddenly stopped, causing Sora to furrow his brows in puzzlement. _'Wait… is there someone in my bathroom?' _he got up from the bed and made his way to the restroom's door with a concerned look on his face. He wondered if someone got their room mixed up or if he had gotten into the wrong room by accident, whatever it was wouldn't end good.

A hairdryer turned on in the bathroom, making Sora stop mid-step. He froze, not knowing what to do. A hairdryer meant that there was a girl on his bathroom, a girl that would come out half-naked and a girl that would earn him a pretty violent death from Kairi. Deciding not to open the door( for obvious reasons) Sora quickly got dressed, pulling up his black shorts while tripping on his own feet and hastily putting on his dark gray undershirt.

'_Damned zippers!' _he cursed as he struggled with the many zippers on his clothes. He heard the hairdryer turn off and picked up his pace, putting on his vest and socks before slipping into his shoes.

'_Click'_

The sound of the door's lock echoed throughout the room, freezing Sora in place. He turned to the room's door to see a smiling Kairi enter his room. Now, Sora was considered a brave person but he could do nothing but choke on his own words as he stared at Kairi with terror on his eyes.

"Sora, what's wrong?" Kairi blinked as she walked over to Sora but stopped on her tracks when the bathroom's door began to open. Kairi snapped her head towards Sora and gave him a look of fury, "Who's in there Sora?" Sora could only babble as he shrunk under Kairi's furious glare.

"Ahhhh, what a great bath!" came the voice of Demyx as he exited the bathroom with a bathrobe and a towel wrapped around the top of his head, "There's nothing like using someone else's bathroom in the morning!"

Kairi sighed in relief before turning to the fuming Sora. The teen glared at Demyx, wondering why how the older teen had managed to live for as long as he did.

"S-Sora…?" Demyx called in a quiet voice, feeling Sora's gaze burning into his skull.

"Demyx…" Sora growled. Demyx laughed nervously as Sora approached him with a growl.

* * *

Sora sat once again at the Competitor's Lounge, his friends sitting around the circular table where he was currently sitting. Hayner had an exited look on his face as he looked around the room, clearly eager to begin the next round of matches. Terra had a serious expression on his face while the rest of the group talked amongst each other.

"Alright everyone!" came the loud voice of the official. All eyes set on the chubby man with reading glasses before he cleared his throat, "Today's matches are about to begin. I will need Hayner and Lee to follow me."

"Finally," Hayner cheered as he stood from his seat and followed the official.

Sora watched as the teen named Lee walked next to Hayner before leaving the room. He felt uneasy for some reason he didn't know. Maybe he was being paranoid, but he thought that things were way too quiet. Auron had told him that the worst storms come after silent days. He hoped that he was just being paranoid but knew what he was really worried about, Aqua's match.

* * *

The stadium's hallways were filled with darkness, strange black goo moved through the floor as it approached the unconscious form of an officer. Xehanort leaned against the hallway's wall with an amused expression on his face. Everything was going according to plan and if he played his cards right then his goal would be accomplished before the month was over. He watched as the black goo began to cover the man, traveling up his body until it reached his face.

The man's eyes shot open when the goo constricted around his body before breaking into his mouth. Xehanort smirked when he saw the darkness enter the man, soon enough the man's heart floated out of his chest before disappearing into thin air. The man's body began to move before moving to a kneeling position in front of Xehanort.

"Some people are just too fragile…" Xehanort chuckled as he snapped his fingers, returning light into the hallway with no evidence of what had happened. He turned to the man's body and nodded, "Blend in with other officers, don't bring too much attention to yourself. Attack when I command you to."

The body turned on its heel and walked to the outside of the stadium. Xehanort watched as the body left before breaking into a fit of coughs, his chest aching horribly. _'I don't have much time left,' _he thought as he touched the hallway's wall with his right hand, forming a small cloud of darkness, _'My plans have to be set into motion a lot sooner than expected.' _With that last trail of thought Xehanort disappeared into the darkness, knowing that there was a minor setback on his plans.

* * *

Lee's shoulder-length black hair swayed with the wind as he charged at Hayner. The blond teen saw this and shot a couple of needles at his opponent. Lee's eyes widened before he spun to his right, successfully dodging the small projectiles. He raised his Keyblade, pointing it at Hayner, before it expanded.

"What the?" Hayner exclaimed as he sidestepped the blade. Lee relaxed his body and returned his Keyblade to its normal length. The blond watched the blade with interest, it had a handle that appeared to be made of leaves and a green blade with three leaves on the tip.

Lee smirked. "I see you've taken a liking to my blade," he pointed out as he waved his weapon in the air, "I call it the 'Growing Root' for obvious reasons. It's able to stretch its length whenever I wish it."

Hayner chuckled as he took a fighting stance. "Aren't you a bit overconfident?" he asked with a smirk on his face. "You're telling me what your keyblade can do like no big deal," he added, "But telling me its abilities is an error on your part."

"What makes you think I told you everything? I assure you that you haven't seen half of what my Keyblade can do," Lee assured as he hardened his gaze.

Hayner narrowed his eyes on his opponent before dashing at him. He watched as Lee pointed his keyblade at him before it extended. The blond used his keyblade to knock Lee's away before shooting a couple of needles directly at him.

'_Got you,' _Hayner thought as the needle's approached the teen but gasped when one of the keyblade's leaves grew on size and covered Lee from the projectiles.

"I told you didn't I?" Lee began as roots started to come out of the ground. The black-haired teen looked at Hayner with a smirk on his face, the roots gathering around him, "You haven't seen what I'm capable of."

Hayner gritted his teeth as a root wrapped around his right ankle, pulling him into the air and holding him upside down. He tried to slice the root in half but another root took hold of his keyblade and tossed it on the ground. More roots wrapped around Hayner's body before beginning to tighten around him.

'_Why does this always happen to me?' _he wondered with a wince, the pressure on his ribs being too much.

"Give up," Lee stated with a frown on his face, "I have no wish to hurt you anymore."

Hayner smirked, making Lee look confused. "You forgot what I told you…" he began with the smirk never leaving his face, "You're too overconfident."

Lee's eyes widened when Hayner's keyblade became enveloped in a white light. The blade suddenly exploded, launching a frenzy of needle's at the surprised Lee. Leave's instantly covered the teen but the needles managed to pierce through them, digging into his skin and activating the poison they held.

The roots around Hayner began to shrink, dropping him to the floor with a thud. A groan escaped his lips when he felt the strain his body had gone through, his ribs ached, his body throbbed and his vision was a little blurry.

"Damn," he heard Lee say. The black-haired teen fell to his knees, feeling the effects of the paralyzing poison on his system, "You were right."

Lee fell limply to the ground, making a group of medics run at him. The official approached the fighting area and smiled, "Hayner is the winner!" Roars of cheers filled the stadium as Hayner stood up, giving a small wave at the crowd.

* * *

"He did it!" Olette cheered with a smile, jumping from her sit and throwing a fist in the air.

"Umm, yeah he did…" Namine muttered a little taken off by Olette, the rest of the group looking at her oddly.

Olette blushed as she sat back down, embarrassed by her sudden outburst. "Sorry…" she muttered with a flushed face.

"D-don't worry about it," Kairi assured with a sweat drop.

Namine nodded before turning to Kairi. "Hey Kairi," she began in a whisper, "Do you know what happened to Demyx?"

Kairi turned to the seat behind her to see a black-eyed Demyx with cross-shaped bandages on his face, tears falling from his eyes. "Nothing," she informed with a frown, remembering the situation he had put her and Sora on earlier. Namine shrugged and turned back to the fight area, knowing that the next match would begin soon.

* * *

Deep in Hollow Bastion a man watched a large screen, covering one of the walls of the old gloomy room he sat in, a smirk adorned his face as he watched the latest match of the Keyblade Tournament. A cup of wine was held on his hand as he brought it to his lips and took a small sip, enjoying the flavor of the alcoholic beverage on his mouth.

'_The Keyblade Competition…' _the man thought as pictures of the contenders covered the screen. He focused on a blond competitor with calm blue eyes, someone he knew rather well. Using him as a distraction, he could easily fulfill his plans and take his revenge on old man Xehanort.

The grip on the cup tightened as the man gritted his teeth. _'Xehanort…' _the name bringing him uncontrollable rage as his eyes fell to the wine. Images of the past hit him as a lone tear rolled down his cheek, _'I'll have that old man begging for mercy.'_

His eyes hardened, containing only hatred and pain. A wave of darkness surrounded the man as he broke into a smile, _'Yes… I'll have him wish for death but I won't stop there. I will not kill him, I'll have him go through the suffering I went through every single day.'_

The man relaxed on his chair as his eyes set on the blond contender. He sighed, shifting on his chair, as he took another sip of his wine, _'Only then will I have peace." _

* * *

Terra made his way to the fight area with a calm expression on his face, not worried about his competition whatsoever. He had prepared after all and some weakling wasn't going to even scratch him. On Aqua's advice, he had held back with his other opponent as not to give away his real abilities, but he had had enough of it. He would go all out and the opponent would be lucky to last more than three seconds against him.

"Attention everyone!" the official called on his microphone as he stood on the middle of the fight area, "Our next match is about to begin!" The crowd roared in excitement as the two contenders glared at each other, Isa's cool eyes calculating his opponent, "Second match of today! Terra vs. Isa. Let the fight begin!"

Isa summoned his keyblade on his left hand. It had a dark blue handle shaped like clouds, a purple blade and a dark yellow half-moon on the tip. He charged at Terra with his blade held high, keen on winning the fight.

Terra suddenly phased from Isa's view and reappeared behind him with his blade on hand. Blood spluttered out of Isa's upper body, revealing a deep slashing wound on his chest. He fell to his knees, coughing up blood, before falling to the ground unconscious.

Medics rushed at Isa's fallen form. The official stood speechless at how abruptly the fight ended before clearing his throat, "Um, it appears that Terra has won."

Terra scoffed before walking back to the Competitor's Lounge, his opponent had been too weak. A few cheers came from the crowd, the rest of the crowd stunned by the ability Terra showed.

Sora frowned as he looked at the screen on the lounge. There was something completely off about Terra. He was usually calm and had a light sense of humor but he now appeared arrogant and quiet. He had known Terra for a long time, this changes came as a real surprise to him.

A sigh escaped his lips, it looked like he would need to confront the older teen. Terra wasn't one to enjoy talking about personal things, neither was Sora, but they would need to settle this before it got out of hand. He was brought out of his musings by the voices of his friends, it looked as if they hadn't noticed the change in Terra. It was actually hard to tell if you didn't know him much but, looking at Aqua and Roxas, he knew that they noticed his changes also.

* * *

Riku frowned from his spot in the Competitor's Lounge. He stood against a wall with his arms crossed, watching the other contenders talk amongst each other. Most of the people there knew him, he came from a powerful family after all, and would throw quick glances at him. He ignored this looks and focused on his next match.

By the looks of things his next opponent was close to Sora. They sat near each other and talked with the group of people around them. He assumed that he knew them too since he looked comfortable. It was amusing to him how they looked so calm and happy without knowing what was to come.

'_Guess I'll just give them a little taste of despair,' _Riku mused, his gaze on Aqua.

**Ch. 30 End**

**I know this chapter is kind of short but I'm still struggling with writer's block. If anyone knows any way to get rid of it please tell me! I'll try to get the next chapter by next week so pay attention to the story. That's all for today and I hope you liked this chapter. **


	31. Author's Notes

**Author's Notes: To those of you that still read this, I have to apologize for the lack of updates. The truth is that I have massive writer's block and can't find a way to keep the story going. Now, before you freak out, know that I will not give up on this story. **

**In a few days I'll start the story over again since I read over it and found that it had several plot-holes and that my writing wasn't at its best. For one, I think that I rushed Sora and Kairi's relationship to the point where it made little sense. Since I have more experience with pacing, I'll be able to make their romantic relationship more natural. **

**The story will take its usual course but it will have several new things added, along with better writing. **

**The chapters won't take long to write since I've already a good idea of what's going to be on them so expect a steady flow of new chapters. **

**That's all I had to say. The story will have the same name but with a beautifully added 'Revised' on it. **


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